Defra has unveiled its long-awaited Farming Roadmap for England, promising to make the sector “more profitable, sustainable and resilient”.
The government today said it had “for the first time in this country’s history” committed to the future of farming beyond the next harvest via the plan, which “ended years of uncertainty”.
Developed “in partnership with farmers”, the roadmap follows the publication of ex-NFU chief Minette Batters’ Farm Profitability Review in December. It warned that policy uncertainty was undermining confidence and investment across the sector and called for a long-term plan to put farm profitability at the heart of government decision-making.
Key highlights include a commitment to extend the horticulture sector’s Seasonal Worker visa regime until at least 2030, and an additional £53m for Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme. This brings total innovation funding this year to £123m – including dedicated investment rounds focused on robotics, soil health and water management.
Collaborative models such as co-operatives would also “play a much larger role”, enabling collective purchasing and joint investment that lowered costs, spread risk and supported stronger returns, the roadmap set out, while also proposing work to unlock private sector investment in farming.
The government will also review how the economic value of agriculture is measured, “ensuring farming receives the recognition it deserves”.
Following on from Batters’ recommendation, it agreed the current figure of just 0.6% of gross value added painted a misleading picture because it only reflected primary agricultural production, rather than the entire supply chain.
The publication of the roadmap follows confirmation of a “simpler and fairer” Sustainable Farming Incentive earlier this month, designed to cut red tape and pay farmers for taking practical steps that benefit their land such as improving soil health, keeping waterways clean, and creating space for wildlife.
Defra has also confirmed plans to “take forward” existing supply chain fair dealing regulations by rolling them out to egg producers and fresh produce growers, while also working on sector growth plans for the wider poultry and horticulture sectors.
Responding to the roadmap, the NFU said it “shows ambition for profitable and resilient food production but needs urgency in delivery”.
“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,” said NFU president Tom Bradshaw.
“However, while the roadmap is full of ambition, it falls short on action and even shorter on the means of delivery,” he added, pointing to the lack of “long-term funding to go with it”.
Intent alone would not “deliver a secure and affordable supply of homegrown food for the nation, nor care for 70% of England’s landscape”, Bradshaw argued, pointing to how the Treasury was “conspicuously absent” in the plan.
“Instead, it tips the balance of risk even more on to 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,” he added.
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds said: “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.”
Reynolds added she had “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” – pointing to the unrest seen in the sector since Labour took power in 2024.
“We are looking at how farming is valued economically and socially to ensure it receives the recognition it deserves.”
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