Responding to the publication of the government-commissioned Farm Profitability Review, National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU) has said the report has highlighted that “reform is needed”.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “This is a thorough and complex report, and we will take our time to digest the details and analyse the recommendations made by Baroness [Minette] Batters to improve the profitability of Britain’s farming businesses.
“As we continue to face huge and wide-ranging challenges from geopolitical uncertainty and trade deals that threaten to undermine our marketplace, to uncertainty around the future of environmental schemes, extreme weather events, continued price volatility and the unfair family farm tax, this report is right to recognise that reform is needed.
“Changes that will drive competitiveness and profitability, which are critical elements of thriving farming businesses, are also crucial to achieving the government’s own targets for economic growth,”
Sustainability
Bradshaw went on to discuss the “financial resilience and long-term sustainability of British farming”, which he describes as “the bedrock of the nation’s largest manufacturing sector, food and drink, worth £153 billion to the economy and an industry that supports more than four million jobs.”
He continued: “In the NFU’s submission to this review, we set out our key priorities which we believe are needed to provide stability and restore farmer confidence.
“It’s therefore encouraging that the five priority areas singled out by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) are consistent with what the NFU has been calling on government to prioritise.”
Last year, Defra Secretary Steve Reed outlined his five core priorities, which were:
- Cleaning up Britain’s river, lakes and seas;
- Creating a road map to move Britain to a zero waste economy;
- Supporting farmers to boost Britain’s food security;
- Ensuring nature’s recovery;
- Protecting communities from the dangers of flooding.
According to Bradshaw: “The creation of a new farming and food partnership board with profitability and food security at its heart will enhance collaboration and ensure the government and industry can work in partnership delivering on the issues that matter most for the sector”.
NFU on supply chain
“A commitment to continue working on supply chain fairness is a top priority for all farming sectors, while delivering planning reforms will help underpin growth for the industry,” the NFU president added.
“Refocused efforts on growing our exports is also welcome and vital to adding value for domestic producers.
“While private finance can play a big part in delivering new income streams and delivering for nature, we can’t hide from the fact that significant challenges remain to this beyond the pilot stage to a truly scalable market delivering financial opportunities for farmers.”
Bradshaw said that “ball is now in Defra’s court”.
“Ministers have to drive these priority areas forward,” Bradshaw said.
“But alongside this, there are other immediate actions that are needed to boost British farming like providing much-needed clarity and certainty on the future of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and doing the right thing on the pernicious inheritance tax changes.
“Secretary of State Emma Reynolds recently said that farm profitability was vital to enable the UK agriculture sector to grow. We couldn’t agree more.
“The NFU stands ready to work with government to deliver our collective ambitions for economic growth delivered by a British agriculture sector that is set up to thrive,” he added.
