Government pledges to help farmers at Downing Street Farm to Fork Summit

The government says a further £12.5m is being made available in May to support research projects that will support environmental sustainability and resilience on farms and an additional investment of up to around £30m to unlock the potential of precision breeding is also being made.

The number of seasonal workers for horticulture available in 2024 will be 45,000 (plus 2,000 for poultry), an uplift of 15,000 compared to what was available to businesses at the start of 2022.

New reviews are set to begin in Autumn in the eggs and horticulture sectors and dairy sector regulations will be laid in Parliament this year with similar actions in the pig sector to follow.

To boost export potential, £2m is being invested to boost a programme of global trade shows and missions, there will be £1.6m for the GREAT food and drink campaign and a new £1m bespoke export support fund for the dairy sector.

Following the hot and dry summer last year, national and regional Water Resource Management Plans will be created for agriculture that will help farmers plan water resources and have a better resilience to drought while barn top solar will be encouraged through farming scheme

grants.

Farmers have long campaigned against red-tape and so Number 10 has said it will have a review of planning barriers to farm diversifications and allow farmers greater flexibility for how they use buildings, for example using buildings for processing foods for farm shops will not require a planning application.

Rishi Sunak told his Cabinet that supporting farmers is not about “some nostalgic vision of the UK’s rural past”, Downing Street has said.

According to his official spokesman, the Prime Minister said ahead of the Farm to Fork summit in Downing Street that the event would “focus on how Government and industry can best work together to grow a thriving food sector here in the UK.”

“He said this was not about some nostalgic vision of the UK’s rural past, but about growing the economy, creating more jobs and building the UK’s food security,” according to the official.

Speaking outside Downing Street after the meeting, NFU president Minette Batters said: “I think the move was very positive. It’s the first Farm to Fork food summit that number 10 have ever hosted and extremely timely because, of course, we’re facing enormous cost inflation pressures.

“I’m really confident that he gets the issue. He is from a very rural constituency, farming is at the heart of his constituency.

“He wants to see this work. I do feel it is very much a change agenda from previous administrations and now we just have to work on delivery and the actions that have been agreed today.