Secretary of State Speaks at NFU26 Conference

Good afternoon, and thank you, Tom, for that kind introduction, and thank you to the NFU for the invitation today. It's a pleasure to be here and to see so many familiar faces.

For well over a century, the NFU has been the backbone of British agriculture, supporting farmers through wars, recessions, droughts, and the sweeping changes that have reshaped our countryside.

You have consistently made the case for British farming, and our country is stronger for it.

On my first day as Secretary of State, Tom and Terry were the first stakeholders I met in person. And three days later, I was delighted to speak at your Back British Farming reception.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, Terry, for your many years of tireless service to the NFU and representing farmers' interests to government. We wish you well when you move on to pastures new.

For many years I've lived in and around rural communities. So I came to this role with muddy wellies and some understanding of the challenges and opportunities for British farming.

I represent a semi-rural constituency and have visited many farms over the years. Some as an MP and some with my youngest son who loves pig farms.

What I have seen on those farm visits has only strengthened my respect for this sector.

British agriculture employs hundreds of thousands of people, sustains rural communities and contributes billions to our economy.

Farmers are the custodians of 70% of England's land and provide 65% of the food we eat.

My first farm visit following my appointment as Secretary of State was to David Exwood's farm in East Sussex. I'm still thinking about those pork pies from your farm shop, David. Proper pastry, proper filling, and they were properly gone by the time I got home.

On that same day, I appointed this country's first ever commissioner for the tenant farming sector, Alan Laidlord. Alan and David talked me through the pressures facing farmers.

The volatile markets, the rising input costs, the unpredictable and extreme weather.

So when I became Secretary of State, I was determined to take action to back farmers.

On inheritance tax, I had many conversations with you, Tom, and others across the sector.

The message was clear. We needed to protect the family farm, and the threshold was too low.

So we increased it from 1-million pounds to 2.5-million pounds which means that couples can pass on up to 5-million pounds without paying inheritance tax on their assets. That's on top of existing allowances such as the nil rate band.

And on our farming schemes, you wanted clarity and certainty.

So in October, I announced mid-tier extensions. In January, I provided an overview of how SFI will be refined. And today, I will provide more detail on the SFI offer available this year following our engagement with farmers.

But addressing immediate concerns is only part of the job. Because building farming's resilience, the theme of this conference, is about taking a wider view of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Our policies must be grounded in the realities that you face.

That's why our government commissioned Baroness Batters, your former president, to write a review on farming profitability.

Minette's review sets out how we can help farmers become more profitable, more competitive for the long term and support the environment.

It's about the government and the sector working in partnership so that British farming can prosper today, tomorrow and beyond.

And working in partnership was the first of the three commitments I made to farmers last month at the Oxford Farming Conference. I said that this government is serious about partnership, that we're committed to giving you clarity and stability, and that we're backing you to grow with confidence and resilience.

Today, I want to set out how we're delivering on each and every one of those commitments.

So let me start with partnership, because it shapes everything that we are doing.

I have always been deeply impressed by your ability to continually adapt, innovate and rise to the challenges of the day. Each generation of farmers has faced new pressures.

Right now, climate change, global instability and biosecurity threats are placing pressure on our food systems.

This government believes food security should be treated as a matter of national security.

But it shouldn't fall on your shoulders alone. I know that for too long, farmers have felt that policy was done to them rather than with them. Announcements made in Whitehall landing in the farmyard with little warning and little sense of how farmers had shaped policies.

We must change this and that's why I announced at Oxford that there would be a Farming and Food Partnership Board.

This represents a fundamental reset of the relationship between government and the farming and food sectors. It would break down the silos between agriculture, food processing and retail.

And I'm pleased to announce today that the first meeting of this new board will take place in March, and let me assure you, the NFU will be represented on it. We will confirm further members of the board shortly. One of the board's objectives will be to oversee sector growth plans, starting with horticulture and poultry, with others to follow.

These plans will be practical, and today I want to announce more detail on what we will do.

They will identify the barriers to growth and profits, including regulatory frictions. and set out how we can remove those barriers. They will consider how costs can be more fairly distributed across the food chain. And they will look at how we can grow the market share for our homegrown produce, whether through exports, retail, or public procurement.

This is how we move from warm words to concrete action. Sector by sector, challenge by challenge, in partnership with you.

Because when you thrive, the nation thrives, with affordable, high-quality British food on the tables of families across the country.

The board is just one of the Batter's review recommendations that we are taking forward.

Last month, I announced the 30-million-pound Farmer Collaboration Fund to help farmers share knowledge, build networks and drive innovation together.

We are also consulting on planning changes to make it easier to build on-farm reservoirs, greenhouses, polytunnels and farm shops so you are free to diversify, adapt and grow.

And we are not stopping there.

All of this work, the Board and other Batters review recommendations will feed into the Farming Roadmap which we will publish later this year. It will be shaped by our engagement with you. It will be grounded in your experience and it will set the direction for British farming for the years ahead.

But our ambitions don't stop at our borders.

I am proud that our government, unlike the last administration, has promoted British agriculture in trade deals with India, the US and Korea. We want to see more British produce on tables worldwide.

At Oxford, I committed to dedicated trade missions to showcase British food and drink overseas, and we are wasting no time.

Next week I'll be visiting Washington DC and Maryland to promote British food and drink to the world's largest consumer market.

Under our deal with the US, British beef now has exclusive access to the American market for the first time ever. A 13,000-tonne quota, opening up opportunities for our farmers to sell high quality British beef to over 300 million consumers.

This is exactly the kind of opportunity we need to seize together. I am delighted that the NFU will be joining me on the visit alongside other industry representatives. When we are making the case for British food on the world stage, I want farmer representation with me.

We are also fixing the barriers closer to home that have held back trade with our closest neighbours.

Earlier this month, I was in Paris meeting my French counterpart to discuss the SPS agreement we are negotiating with the EU. We've talked about the huge opportunity the agreement will provide. Exports of agri food to the EU have dropped by a fifth in the 5 years since Brexit.

The SPS agreement will change that. It will make trade faster, easier and cheaper.

Frictionless trade, efficient orders, open supply chains. We know that we want more detail on what the agreement will look like and we will be setting that out soon.

We will continue to work with you to make the SPS deal a success and ensure a smooth transition. This agreement will strengthen our shared food security, more British beef and dairy back on European tables, and seed potatoes making their way back to Europe for the first time since 2021.

Seizing those opportunities abroad depends on farmers having confidence and resilience at home.

That's why my second commitment is to provide you with clarity and stability. So let me turn to environmental and management schemes.

I know that for many of you in this room, uncertainty in recent years has been damaging, not just financially, but in terms of trust. You need to be able to plan, and as I said at Oxford, SFI must work alongside food production, not displace it.

A couple of weeks ago, I met Adrian and Charlotte Downing who run Darbell's Hill Farm in Buckinghamshire. It's a small mixed farm with native breed sheep, rare breed pigs and an agroforestry approach that weaves trees and hedgerows into productive farmland.

Over a cup of tea, they talked me through their approach and then I saw it for myself out on the land how naturally the SFI scheme fits with what they're doing already with their business. The hedgerow management gives their livestock shelter and supports wildlife Their grazing system improves soil health, environmental management and productive farming working together on the same land.

That's what SFI should look like. Not a choice between food and nature, but a system where both can thrive.

So today I want to set out in more detail the changes to SFI.

We are making the scheme simpler, and we have streamlined the actions available from 102 to 71. We have weeded out those that were duplicative or weren't delivering enough for food production or the environment. And judging by the low uptake, those which weren't working for you either.

Later today we will publish the full list of actions available from June. We are also making the scheme fairer. Right now, a quarter of the funding is going to just four percent of farms.

That is not right. I want more farmers to have the opportunity to benefit from the scheme and we need to reach our target to double the number of farms delivering for nature.

We will introduce an agreement value cap of 100,000 pounds per year so we can fund as many agreements for farmers as possible. And to put that in context, 97% of current agreement holders fall below that cap.

We will also remove the SFI management payment for new agreements and rebalance a small number of payment rates. We are increasing rates for some moorland actions in both new and existing agreements to ensure hill farmers are properly compensated. And we are reducing rates for three parable actions.

But I want to be clear on why we are making this change. I know that there have been reports that we're moving away from income foregone. That is simply wrong.

Some rates were set too high and too much of our most productive land was removed from conventional farming. Payments will still be fair and based on income foregone, but they'll support food production, not undermine it.

I've explained how the offer will be simpler and fairer. Now I want to explain how we will provide stability.

At Oxford, I confirmed that there will be two application windows this year, June and September.

The June window will prioritise small farms with up to 50 hectares, and those without existing ELM revenue agreements. Only farms with at least three hectares of agricultural land will be eligible, reflecting the Batters review recommendation and the engagement we had with the sector.

Full scheme details will be published before the scheme opens, clear budgets will be set for each window, and we will regularly update you on committed spend.

There will be no more sudden, unexpected closures. Once these changes are in place, the main design of SFI will be stabilised so you know what to expect in years to come.

All of these changes reflect genuine dialogue with the NFU and wider stakeholders. There was broad agreement on the direction of travel, and I believe this strikes the right balance. Value for money, stronger environmental delivery, and real simplicity while retaining choice for all farm types. An SFI that's simpler, fairer, and shaped with you.

But resilience also means investing in infrastructure that lasts.

So today I'm delighted to announce that when we open the new round of ELM Capital Grants in July, there'll be up to 225-million-pounds available. That's fifty more than last year.

This investment will help farm businesses invest in hedgerows for biodiversity, natural flood management measures and livestock equipment to help improve water quality.

And I know that those livestock farmers among you have real concerns about the threat that animal diseases pose. This brings me to my third commitment, to back you to grow with confidence and resilience.

We have seen the impact of animal diseases become more prevalent in recent years, with ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza and blue tongue in the UK and risks such as cases of foot and mouth in Europe.

Disease is a risk to individual businesses, supply chains and the wider industry. Good biosecurity protects everyone and it is vital we work in partnership with industry to tackle it.

We are investing over 1-billion pounds in a new national biosecurity centre at Weybridge. Planning consent has been gained with site clearance underway and a contractor appointed to build the science hub.

This will be a world-class science centre protecting farmers and food producers that will have the capability and capacity to meet future animal disease threats.

And we are supporting you out on the ground now. We've already funded over 11,000 vet-led reviews for cattle, sheep and pig keepers. And the evidence is clear. Early intervention works.

So I'm pleased to announce today that from this summer, visits will be extended to poultry keepers for the first time.

I'm also launching a consultation on making vet visits mandatory for cattle, sheep and pig farmers in England. And I want to hear your views, because the best way to fight disease is to stop it taking hold in the first place.

Farming resilience is also about productivity. It's about innovation. It's about giving farmers the tools build businesses that can withstand whatever the future throws at them.

Today, I'm confirming 120-million pounds in productivity grants for 2026.

That starts with 50-million pounds for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which will open in March. Across England, we have seen what this kind of investment unlocks. In North Yorkshire, a farmer has upgraded their soil and fertiliser management with a direct drill. In Buckinghamshire, a new water delivery system is improving bird welfare. And in Shropshire, a flower grower is using solar power robots to plant and weed their crops.

These aren't pilot projects or distant ambitions. These are real farms, real investments and real results. And our investment goes beyond equipment.

Today I'm delighted to announce 70-million pounds for the Farming Innovation Programme helping farmers turn cutting-edge research into practical tools that boost productivity, growth and resilience.

The programme has already supported over 300 projects across the sector, from smart sprayers targeting black grass to techniques to maximise strawberry yields. You know what works on your farm, that practical knowledge, backed by the right investment support, is exactly what we will build businesses fit for the decades ahead.

British farming has always been about resilience, about springing back after a hard season, adapting to a changing world and producing food for the nation.

In January, I promised partnership, clarity and confidence. Today I've shown how we're taking forward those promises. A farming and food partnership board with the NFU at its heart, to reset how we work together. A simpler, fairer and stable SFI supporting food production and the environment with no more sudden unexpected closures. A clear offer on capital grants and grants for productivity and innovation. Expanded biosecurity support and new trade missions to open markets for British food.

These are not isolated actions. They are part of a determined effort to give British farming the foundation it needs to grow.

We want farm businesses that are productive, profitable and resilient.

We want to see more British food on more tables, here at home and around the world.

And we want a countryside that is striving for wildlife, for communities and for the families who have worked this land for generations.

This is an ambition we share. Let's build farming's resilience together.

Thank you.