The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published its ’Farming Roadmap 2050’, which aims to set out how Government can provide long-term stability for producers.
The roadmap will look to provide “immediate action” to boost farm profitability, and will aim to give farmers better access to the tools, technology, skills and supply chains they need to invest, innovate and grow.
Defra said that the roadmap would help farmers to adapt to the impacts of extreme weather and climate through nature-based solutions and water management.
According to Defra, an additional £53 million for the Farming Innovation Programme will bring total innovation funding this year to £123 million, including dedicated funding rounds focused on robotics and soil health and water management.
Government is also working with industry to create Sector Growth Plans, starting with poultry and horticulture, and bringing farmers, retailers and investors together on the Farming and Food Partnership Board.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds commented: “Farmers feed our nation and manage the land that shapes our countryside, yet their contribution has never been valued in the way it deserves. Our roadmap marks a shift away from only looking to the next harvest and towards a plan that gives farmers the long-term clarity they need to innovate, invest and grow with confidence for generations to come.
“I have spent every day in this role rebuilding our relationship with farmers brick by brick because they’re such an important part of our economy, our society and our environment. We are looking at how farming is valued economically and socially to ensure it receives the recognition it deserves.”
BMPA calls for individual goals to “not be seen in isolation”
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) welcomed the roadmap, but urged Government to put food security as a priority for farming.
John Powell, CEO of the BMPA, stated: “While we welcome the Government’s ambition to reduce emissions and seek to move into lower-emission farming systems, surely the current priority for farming must be on securing long-term domestic production, safeguarding our food security and ensuring we can trade on fair and equitable terms with third countries.
“Individual goals within the roadmap must also not be seen in isolation to protecting the long-term profitability and productivity of our farming sectors.”
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said that the roadmap “relied heavily” on assumptions of productivity growth and private finance. It said that success would be reliant on partnership between Government departments, farmers and private finance.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw commented: “After nearly two years of waiting for this roadmap, it’s good to see resilience, profitability, productivity and sustainability at its heart – all areas we’ve been urging the Government to focus on. The Government is right to say that the national security context has changed. Combined with climate and economic shocks, the fragilities of our food system now feel very exposed, and we need to move rapidly into delivery mode to turn this around.
“However, while the roadmap is full of ambition, it falls short on action and even shorter on the means of delivery.
“The roadmap sets out a welcome multi-year direction for farming, yet there is no long-term funding to go with it. Intent alone won’t deliver a secure and affordable supply of homegrown food for the nation, nor care for 70% of England’s landscape.”
“It tips the balance of risk even more onto the shoulders of farmers.”
Tom Bradshaw, NFU
Bradshaw stated: “The Treasury is conspicuously absent in this plan. Instead, it tips the balance of risk even more onto the shoulders of farmers, with much of the investment expected to come from business bank accounts which have been sucked dry over recent years due to soaring costs and unsustainably low margins. There has to be a greater partnership between Defra, the Treasury, MHCLG (Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government) and farmers if we’re to realise this vision for farming.”
