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NFU outlines key reforms needed in response to Defra’s farm profitability review

25 July 2025

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NFU President Tom Bradshaw

ʼһhas submitted its response to Defra’s farm profitability review led by Baroness Batters.

 

Our submission, put together following widespread engagement with NFU commodity boards and broken down into sector-specific recommendations¹, focuses on key themes and priorities which will help create a more collaborative and equitable marketplace that will underpin the nation’s food security and environmental targets.

· Enhancing opportunities for investmentthrough improved access to finance, the effective use of tax reliefs, a drive for greater energy resilience, and a stable policy environment to enable enduring levels of positive investor confidence.

· Creating the right conditions to support business developmentthrough enabling planning and smart, modern regulatory frameworks, and applied near-market research and development and knowledge transfer.

· Reforming market incentives and supply chain relationshipsto ensure farmers can compete on a level playing field with international competitors, release the opportunities of domestic and export market growth, while also benefiting from strengthened and more equitable relationships within supply chains. Given the persistence of market-failures in the agri-food chain, incentives such as the government’s Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs), including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and the mobilisation of private capital through supply-chain insetting agreements to support sustainable farming practices, have an important role to play in aligning environmental delivery with the profitable production of food, energy and fibre.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “Thisreviewled by Baroness Batterscomes at a critical moment for the farming industry. It lands as farmers face a perfectstormand for many, it’s become a battle to keep their businesses afloat.

“Confidence is at an all-time low, with deep uncertainty over investmentandenvironmental schemes, climate pressuresand resulting changes to our weather, increasinglyvolatile markets, andthreats from changes toinheritance tax. In some sectors, farmers focus on food production is now overshadowed by a fight for financial survival.

“This reviewpresents our industry with an important opportunity to identify those areas of reform that are desperately needed to not only improve business confidencebut drive competitiveness and profitability which arecritical elements of thriving farming businesses, and central to achieving government’s own targets for economic growth. Profitable farming will result in increased food production, will help to meet our domestic environmental targets and deliver national food security.

“Enhancing opportunities for investment through improved access to finance and the effective use of tax reliefs, alongside a drive for greater energy resilience, and a stable policy environment to encourage investor confidence, could all be game changers. Reforming market incentives and supply chain relationships and creating smart regulatory frameworks such as an enabling planning system is also key.

“The recommendations and actions outlined in our submission will help create a more collaborative and equitable marketplace, enabling our farmers and growers to invest in their businesses and drive profitability and growth in the long-term.

“British farmers provide the raw ingredients for the UK's largest manufacturing sector, food and drink, worth £148 billion to the UK economy and provides jobs for more than 4 million people.

“As the foundation of the food industry, we must ensure our farms are profitable and viable so they can keep producing sustainable and affordable foodalongsiderenewable energy, drive economic growth, provide jobs and deliver our national environmental ambitions.”

As part of the profitability review, Baroness Batters, the former NFU President, aims to provide short, medium and long-term recommendations and propose actions for the government and industry to support farming profitability. ʼһis committed to working with government to deliver our collective ambitions for British agriculture to prosper and grow.

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Notes to editor:

1. 1. Sector-specific priorities

Combinable crops

  • Ensure imports meet UK legal standards to protect domestic producers.
  • More accurate data on fertiliser markets and the flows of grain into, out of and around the UK.
  • Provide access to full pest, disease, and weed control tools.

Horticulture

  • Introduce a statutory Horticulture Buyers’ Code to prevent unfair trading.
  • Recognise agricultural infrastructure in planning policy (e.g. glasshouses).
  • The implementation of a new productivity funding scheme, open to more growers.
  • More accurate and timely data on production and import volumes.

Sugar

  • Strengthen the Common Market Organisation (CMO), to support collective sugar beet contract negotiations.
  • Introduce clear UK sugar price reporting to support fair beet pricing.
  • Clear legislation and a simple authorisation and renewal process for plant protection products and support sustainable Virus Yellows solutions.

Livestock

  • A supply chain which takes a long term and collaborative approach with farmers.
  • Greater transparency of the full value of a carcass through the value chain.
  • Minimisation of the financial burden of FSA official controls for small abattoirs.
  • Delivery of a multipurpose Livestock Information Transformation Programme.

Dairy

  • Continuation of the focus on opportunities to grow dairy exports.
  • Extension of the functions of the ASCA office to proactively investigate breaches of compliance.
  • Access to finance & supportive bank ESG models to enable farm businesses to remain competitive, resilient and sustainable.

Poultry

  • Introduction of and enforcement of regulations which will ensure there are written agreements between producers and buyers.
  • Recognition of the value of food production in planning applications
  • A well-funded Avian Influenza disease control strategy

2. 2. Read a summary of the NFU submission here.