“Now is the time to make our voices heard” – that was the message from NFU President Tom Bradshaw as he called on the government to deliver an increased agriculture budget on 30 October.
The NFU is calling for a renewed and enhanced multi-annual agriculture budget of £5.6 billion the majority of which is needed to deliver the government’s environmental goals, with the remainder looking to drive productivity and support the economic stability of farm businesses, all supporting the health and wellbeing of our nation.
Challenges, such as climate change, and statutory commitments, such as the Environmental Improvement Plan, need to be matched by a renewed commitment to ensure the nation’s food security and help farming boost domestic production, as set out in the National Food Strategy.
“I urge all members to use our campaigning letter template to write to their MP to tell them why the agriculture budget is so important to their businesses,” the NFU President added.
“It’s vital we show that this is an issue that affects farmers across the whole of the country.”
What has the PM promised?
During the NFU’s Conference in 2022, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, then Leader of the Opposition, delivered a keynote speech where he pledged Labour’s aspirations to “govern every corner of our country and will seek a new relationship with the countryside and farming communities on this basis, a relationship based on respect and on genuine partnership”.
Hold the government to account on this promise and use our tool to write to your MP today.
£5.6bn budget needed
The NFU commissioned The Andersons Centre* to model the public funding required to deliver the government’s ambitions for agriculture in England over the 2025 to 2030 period, structured around our three agricultural policy cornerstones.
The research indicates that an annual agricultural budget for England of around £4 billion would support the delivery of a balanced agricultural policy which underpins global competitiveness:
- around £2.7 billion to meet the government’s environmental goals
- £615 million for driving productivity
- £720 million to support the economic stability of agricultural businesses
Respecting the nature of devolved government, we estimate this would translate to a UK-wide budget of around £5.6 billion.
The modelled budget does not capture every spending requirement, due to the interactions of funding need with policy design which are difficult to fully account for.
However, it does provide a strong indication of the level of budget required to deliver a globally competitive, productive, resilient, innovative and sustainable agricultural sector that would drive significant environmental improvements at unprecedented scale.
Division of funding
A balanced agricultural budget for the next parliament should be structured around the NFU’s three longstanding agricultural policy cornerstones:
- environment
- productivity
- stability
Investment in productivity and stability will ensure a competitive and resilient agricultural sector, while investment in environmental delivery also contributes to the resilience of our food systems, our environmental ambitions and a more sustainable economy.
A closer look at the division of funding
British farming contributing to the economy
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The agri-food sector's contribution to the UK economy (GVA) in 2021 was £127 billion. |
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The number of people working on UK agricultural holdings in 2022 was 471,000. |
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69% of the UK's land area is farmed. |
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Agri-food sector jobs in 2022 were just under 4.2 million. |
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The number of businesses in the UK registered as farm businesses in 2022 was 142,500. |
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UK food and drink exports in 2022 were £24.8 billion. |
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UK food self sufficiency is currently (2022) at 60%. |
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The amount UK shoppers spent on food and drink products in 2022 was £281 billion. |
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The percentage of farm businesses that had some form of diversification in 2021/22 was 68%. |
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Farmers produce renewable energy that helps to power an average of 10 million UK homes. |
*The Andersons Centre provides industry-leading business advice, research and analysis to the agricultural, rural and food sectors across the UK