Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, made a series of announcements during his speech at NFU’s annual conference in London on Monday, February 25.
These included a long-awaited uplift to Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) payments, reopening of capital, and productivity grants and funding for innovation and technology.
Crucially, he did not provide any indication that the government would row back on its controversial new changes to inheritance tax, which was a focal point at this year’s event.
Reed explained: “I can’t give the answer I know many of you want on inheritance tax.
“But I want you to know that I understand the strength of feeling in the room and in the sector, we can see an example of that right in front of me right now. And I am sorry it’s a decision that we’ve had to take.”
A display of donated toys were exhibited by union members outside the host venue, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, which the NFU claimed was a symbol of the “futures lost to the farm family tax.”
Announcements made by Reed
During the speech, Reed announced a five-year extension to the seasonal worker visa route in a bid to provide more certainty to the sector, but he admitted there will be annual quota reviews during which the government will develop alternative long-term solutions to labour shortages.
New requirements concerning public procurement, will ensure government catering contracts favour “high-quality, high-welfare local produce”, which builds on the government’s commitment for at least 50% of food supplied to public sector catering contracts be of British origin.
“For the first time ever, we are measuring where the public sector buys food from so we can use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce wherever we can.
“I have worked with my colleague Pat McFadden in the Cabinet Office to create new requirements for government catering contracts to favour high-quality, high-welfare products that British producers are well-placed to meet.
“This means British farmers and producers can compete for a fairer share of the £5 billion pounds a year the public sector spends on food. That’s money straight into farmers’ bank accounts to boost turnover and boost profits,” Reed said.
Reed announced a number of investment opportunities in agri-tech and innovation, including a further £110 million pounds in farming grants.
Agri-tech
A new Farming Innovation Programme (FIP), valued at over £42.5 million, will be launched in 2025, which will provide funding to stakeholders interested in developing the use of new, innovative methods and technologies in agriculture, including precision breeding.
In addition, Reed informed the audience that the government will provide grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 from spring this year, under the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF), which is valued at approximately £46 million.
According to the government, these grants will finance new equipment, technology, and small infrastructure on farms to boost productivity, improve slurry management and enhance animal health and welfare.
While the Government’s new £20 million ADOPT programme will fund farmer-led trials that “bridge the gap between these new technologies and their use in the real world, showing farmers that their investments in technology will deliver financial returns and boost profits,” Reed added.
Reed also announced an investment of £208 million into the construction of a new National Biosecurity Centre at the Animal and Plant Health Agency facilities at Weybridge, in a bid to enhance research into the disease outbreaks which devastate the sector.
He also informed the conference that his department are working alongside the Home Office and Border Force to crack down on the increasing import of illegal meat into the country, with more than 92,000kg seized at ports across the UK over the last year.
These imports raise the risk of diseases like African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth proliferating in the UK, Reed added.
As part of the Government’s efforts to tackle rural crime, which impacts farm profitability, Reed confirmed that new legislation will be ratified in 2025 to “better protect agricultural equipment like all-terrain vehicles, by requiring immobilisers and forensic marking as standard”.
He also told NFU members that his department is collaborating with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to enable more farms with electricity production capacities to connect to the national grid to sell surplus energy.
An investment of £30 million will be made by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to increase HLS payment rates with immediate effect – which Reed accepted was long sought after by the NFU – to ensure farmers “get a fair price” for their environmental efforts.
Defra has committed to publish these payment rates as soon as possible, Reed said.
