Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(): A strong domestic farming
sector is, and always will be, a lynchpin for national security.
As Secretary of State, I will always champion British farming and
rural communities. I've visited farms up and down the country and
in all these interactions I've seen the ingenuity, determination
and pride that defines our British farming communities.
Whether its arable, livestock, horticulture or mixed enterprise,
the message I hear consistently is that to become profitable,
productive and resilient they need clarity and certainty from the
Government.
That's exactly what I intend to deliver.
Today, I am publishing Baroness Batters' independent Farming
Profitability Review. The Government commissioned this review to
examine how we can support farm businesses to become more
profitable. Doing so is essential for our country's economic
growth and food security, enabling a stronger, more productive
domestic farming sector that also helps keep high‑quality British
food on shelves for consumers who want to buy British.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to for her exemplary efforts
in leading this review. Drawing on her years of experience and
deep understanding of working farms, alongside months of research
and stakeholder engagement, she has produced a breadth of work
that will help in the development of our long-term 25-year
Roadmap for the sector.
The Review makes 57 recommendations and highlights the sector's
potential to stand at the heart of Britain's economic renewal. It
calls for stronger partnership between the Government and
industry, better data to drive productivity, smarter regulation,
and more targeted innovation– themes which are central to this
Government's Plan for Change and essential to my vision to grow
the rural economy.
One theme stands out very strongly from the Review, and that's
the need for agriculture, the food industry and the Government to
work in partnership. I couldn't agree more.
That's why today I am establishing a new Farming and Food
Partnership Board, which I will chair alongside Farming Minister
Dame as deputy. It will be about
serious action and a strong voice at the centre of the Government
bringing together senior leaders in farming, food, retail, and
finance.
The new Board will help shape decisions, remove barriers to
investment and tackle the challenges the sector faces. This is a
key element of our cross-Government food strategy.
Importantly, the Board won't take a one size fits all approach.
It will focus on specific agricultural sectors, tailoring growth
in sectors like horticulture and in poultry, where there is
significant untapped potential to increase homegrown production.
I want to unlock the untapped opportunities in specific parts of
the food chain and deliver specific sector plans.
I want to give farmers confidence to grow and invest. Most
farmers are small and medium sized business owners, as well as
custodians of the land, and they want to sell their produce for
the best price and have a long and sustainable future. Helping
them do so strengthens the whole food chain — supporting
households with reliable, affordable access to British produce at
a time when the cost of living remains a concern for many
families.
Alongside the launch of the Board, the Government is today
setting out immediate actions to back farm businesses:
- This week, Rt. Hon. MP, the Housing Secretary, and
I took action to cut wasteful bureaucracy and are changing
planning rules to make food production a priority for councils.
This will mean the system is more supportive of the
infrastructure farmers need. That's a win for getting more
on-farm reservoirs, greenhouses, polytunnels and farm shops
built quicker.
- We are tackling barriers to private finance, bringing
together farmers, agri-food businesses and major financial
institutions to attract investment into farm transformation and
productivity and nature.
- We are stepping up action on supply chain fairness, including
continued scrutiny of unfair practices and consideration of
changes to Groceries Code Adjudicator oversight.
- The Government can and must create opportunities for farmers
beyond our own shores. We are creating opportunities overseas
through our trade deals for our world class food and drink, from
British beef in the US, to a whole range of produce in India. But
we can go further. Our global network of agriculture attachés has
unlocked an estimated £100m in export deals this year alone and
there is more potential out there. I am going further and setting
up dedicated trade missions for British agriculture so that
farmers and growers can get their products to new markets
overseas.
This is just the start. Our 25-year Farming Roadmap will give
farmers clarity and confidence for the future. We're doing more
than ever – cutting bureaucracy, driving investment, opening
global markets – because British farming matters not just for
rural communities, but for every household that values
affordable, home‑grown British food.
Today's announcements form a core part of the Government's
overall food strategy, focused on backing British farming,
strengthening food security and supporting profitable, resilient
farm businesses for the long term.
In addition to the Government's initial response set out here, we
will carefully consider all of Baroness Batters' recommendations
as we continue to develop our 25-year Farming Roadmap which will
be published in 2026.
