Attendees got a first look at the board’s roadmap for change, learning how the NFU will seek sector growth through specific asks on tax, budget and productivity measures, land use, plant health, fairness in the supply chain, and R&D.
The publication is undeniably timely.
Setting things up, NFU Combinable Crops Board chair Jamie Burrows noted it landed after a year in which a combination of lower grain prices and weather-hit yields meant farm business income for cereals farms fell by 73%.
“Last year, cereal farms failed to make a positive return on their agricultural activities, with an average loss of £26,400 – and the sector is one of the most affected by proposed changes to Inheritance Tax reliefs,” Jamie said.
“It has never been more important to have a clear strategy.”
Digital passport progress
He and board members James Mills (vice chair) and Matt Culley, and NFU senior policy specialist Luke Cox, ran through a range of policy asks and positions under the new roadmap.
Those included measures to boost productivity and resilience while minimising farmer risk, with support for infrastructure like land drainage, grain handling, storage and machinery, and options to help farmers meet the ‘non-grant’ elements of investments.
The board will also be pushing for progress on a promised government review of fairness in arable supply chains, improvements in the contract used to trade grain, and for the long-awaited creation of a single, industry-owned digital grain passport.
An important step towards greater transparency, things are now moving quickly there, the session heard.
“It’s now a choice between one digital system, and all the benefits of that centralised data, or multiple systems owned by various merchants. We are moving away from paper, but we have a choice on ownership,” James said.
“It has never been more important to have a clear strategy.”
NFU Combinable Crops Board chair Jamie Burrows
Matt said the digital passport could provide aggregated, anonymised data for “everything that goes on a lorry”, whether it is produced here or imported, with immediate feedback of sample data for growers throughout the supply chain.
“Without proper anonymised, aggregated data about grain internally, and for what comes in, how can anyone make informed decisions?” he asked.
“And claims that come a couple of days later by email don’t really work for me.”
Supply chain fairness
That tapped into the wider work of the board on fairness, and the session heard about efforts to understand and address this year’s spike in ergot rejections – and their costs to growers – and the parity, or otherwise, of imported versus assured grain, something that was recognised as an issue in the recent Farm Assurance Review.
“We’ve got a chance now to shape not just what we want from assurance, but what we need.”
NFU Combinable Crops Board member Matt Culley
The panel felt the final report there had reflected much of the NFU Crops Board submission.
“We’ve got a chance now to shape not just what we want from assurance, but what we need,” Matt said.
Jamie added: “Do you need an annual inspection of a record of that shows that you are doing what you are supposed to do? I think that’s a good place to start.”
Plant health and R&D
Elsewhere, attendees heard how the NFU wants to see improved water management, Sustainable Farming Incentive actions that boost production, and encouragement for growers to grow more protein crops in their rotations, cutting often unsustainable imports.
R&D priorities will include fast-track implementation of the Precision Breeding Bill, best practice guidance on cover crops – with a focus on certification standard for seed quality – and reforms to cut the regulatory burdens and boost confidence around controlled and alternative crops such as hemp.
The strategy says all of this should be underpinned by a risk-based framework for plant protection and the panel felt March was the next most likely time for the long-awaited National Action Plan.
Questions from members covered the prospects for long-term glyphosate renewal, the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) and the latest on the Farming Rules for Water.
Read the NFU Combinable Crops Board Strategy ‘Harvesting Growth’ in full.
Meet the speakers from this session
Luke Cox
NFU combinable crops senior policy adviser
Jamie Burrows
NFU Combinable Crops Board chair
The joint venture has a mix of owned, tenanted and contract farming agreements, growing milling and feed wheat, milling oats, feed and malting barley, peas, beans and, for the time being, oilseed rape.
Due to the complex nature of the soils in South Herts, ranging from heavy clays to gravel, Jamie and his colleagues cover a wide range of cultivation and drilling methods. However, a happy medium of min-till normally takes place on 50% of the land farmed. All grain is sold through Openfield going to homes relatively locally, usually within 50 miles.
At home, the family farm has diversified, with an 80-horse livery and riding school, with all hay and straw produced in house.
Having been involved in the NFU locally since returning home from Harper Adams in 2005 Jamie has gradually become more and more involved at a regional level and now, as well as being Hertfordshire NFU County chair, he is also East Anglia Combinable Crops Board chair. He is also an ex-Cereals Development Programme participant, and keen to get others involved in these types of initiatives.
Jamie is passionate about achieving the best for cereal and oilseed producers, and proud to represent the cereals interests of East Anglia members.
James Mills
NFU Combinable Crops Board vice chair
Livestock are an important part of the rotation, grazing stubble turnips and cover crops. All cereals are produced with the focus on supplying local markets. A mixed wildlife offer represents an environmental diversification, alongside a recently developed wedding venue.
Matt Culley
NFU Combinable Crops Board member, regional chair (South)
Wheat is grown for the feed market, with a small area grown for seed. Winter barley is feed and spring barley is for malting. The farming partnership also runs a grain storage business with drying facilities and a soft fruit enterprise.
Matt served as NFU Combinable Crops Board chair from 2020-2024.
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