Farmers welcome roadmap to tackle extreme weather as heatwave hits | Politics | News
Government has strained relations with farmers (Image: Getty)
Ministers have published a roadmap that will give farmers the confidence to tackle harsh weather conditions and reduce reliance on expensive fertilizers “beyond the next harvest”.
The plan includes an extra £53 million for the farming innovation programme; It will take total funding for this year to £123 million and set aside specific cash for robotics, soil health and water management.
The Department for the Environment (Defra) said seasonal worker visas will continue until 2030 in a bid to support the horticulture sector.
The roadmap outlines how farmers can reduce their dependence on expensive fertilizers, which have soared in price in the wake of the Iran war, and adapt to the increasing climate impacts of heatwaves, droughts and floods through “nature-based solutions” such as improving soil health and managing water.
Tom Bradshaw, chief executive of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “After almost two years of waiting for this roadmap, it’s good to see resilience, profitability, productivity and sustainability at the heart of it – all areas we’ve been encouraging the government to focus on. The government is right to say that the national security context is changing. “With climate and economic shocks, the vulnerabilities of our food system now seem clear and we need to move quickly into delivery mode to turn this around.
“But while the roadmap is full of ambition, it falls short on action and is even short on delivery vehicles.
“The roadmap sets out a welcome multi-year direction for farming, but there is no long-term funding to go along with it. “The intent alone will not deliver a safe and affordable home-grown food supply for the nation and will fail to care for 70% of Britain’s land.
“The Treasury is conspicuously absent from this plan. Instead, it puts the balance of risk even more on farmers’ shoulders, with much of the investment expected to come from commercial bank accounts that have been depleted in recent years by rising costs and unsustainably low margins.”
The long-term roadmap follows a Government-commissioned review into farm profitability by former National Farmers Union chief Baroness Batters, and ministers have said they will take immediate action in response.
David Bean of the Countryside Alliance said: “Although we have not yet seen the details of this new plan, at first glance it is encouraging to see that the government is taking the future of British farming seriously. In addition to extra funding for innovation, it is particularly welcome that the government is taking new steps to fully account for the value the food and farming sector produces each year.”
“Obviously the government is experiencing some instability at the moment, but the work to support our farmers needs to continue.”
The government’s agri-environment programme, environmental land management plans will become more focused and targeted, while long-term payments for “public goods” such as creating wildlife habitat will continue.
Ministers have had a tense relationship with farmers after they partially rejected proposals for an inheritance tax raid last December.
Environment Minister Emma Reynolds said: “Farmers feed our nation and manage the lands that shape our countryside, but their contribution has never been properly valued.
“Our roadmap marks a shift from looking only at the next harvest to a plan that gives farmers the long-term clarity they need to innovate, invest and grow with confidence for future generations.
“I have spent every day in this role rebuilding our relationship with farmers, brick by brick, because they are such an important part of our economy, our society and our environment.”
