Flaming June, farming roadmap, bovine TB, farm machinery 10 years post- Brexit, & green award for farm estate

Louise, the, uh, roadmap, um, the government would say, I guess, uh, it's mapping the way forward for agriculture.

Yes, at last.

This has been long awaited, hasn't it? We've been hearing about it for really quite some time.

Uh, and now here it is.

Uh, so that has to be welcomed, doesn't it? Because they set out, uh, as they say, a, a clear direction and a long-term vision for what farming is going to look like, both up to 2030 and then beyond to 2050.

So that You know, we have mentioned that, haven't we, so many times on this podcast about there not being a plan and not being a vision.

Um, and now we, we finally have one.

The other side of that, of course, is that this is a map for a journey that started really quite a long time ago for many farmers.

So, um, you know, following Brexit, and as soon as BPS started to, uh, be taken away, um, that journey had already started.

And of course, the pace has really accelerated in the last couple of years, um, since the, the government changed color.

So that's, that's the other side of this.

But I think, um, it's taken a long time, they say, because they had so many other bits that needed to be completed and shoehorned into this.

Um, and what we now need really is some sort of proof that their actions or the government's actions are gonna match their words.

Because throughout this document, um, there is a big focus on nature-friendly farming and sustainable farming methods, and that's great.

But of course, we have the SFI26, uh, reopening or opening for new applications, and of course, there isn't much budget attached to the SFI26.

So that's already a bit of a dilemma for me.

Um, however, I think we have to be probably more positive [chuckles] than I've just been in that, um, they have produced this, and that, um, now people will be able to see what it is that they really want from farmers.

Hugh, as Louise suggests, uh, this, uh, roadmap has been billed as something of a reset of the relationship between government and farming.

And Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds accepting that the government needs to change the way it measures farming's contribution to the economy, so it recognizes the value of the whole agrifood sector supported by farmers, not just the value of food as it, uh, leaves the farm gate.

And if it does that, it puts agriculture, the value of the agrifood sector, on a par with car manufacturing and indeed the construction sector.

Well, look, they're, they're, they're trumping this as a, a reset after the sort of basically the, the, the whole drama of inheritance tax and, and, and the seemingly anti-rural agenda that's come out of government since 2024.

Um, the GVA figure.

So yeah, so farming currently it sits at point six percent.

Um, but if you then say, well, actually, without farming, the whole agrifood sector wouldn't function because the raw material comes from the farms in the country, suddenly that figure jumps up to six point one percent, so it sounds really good.

You know, agrifood sector employs one in ten employees nationally, so it's huge.

Louise, the, uh, roadmap, um, the government would say, I guess, uh, it's mapping the way forward for agriculture.

Yes, at last.

This has been long awaited, hasn't it? We've been hearing about it for really quite some time.

Uh, and now here it is.

Uh, so that has to be welcomed, doesn't it? Because they set out, uh, as they say, a, a clear direction and a long-term vision for what farming is going to look like, both up to 2030 and then beyond to 2050.

So that You know, we have mentioned that, haven't we, so many times on this podcast about there not being a plan and not being a vision.

Um, and now we, we finally have one.

The other side of that, of course, is that this is a map for a journey that started really quite a long time ago for many farmers.

So, um, you know, following Brexit, and as soon as BPS started to, uh, be taken away, um, that journey had already started.

And of course, the pace has really accelerated in the last couple of years, um, since the, the government changed color.

So that's, that's the other side of this.

But I think, um, it's taken a long time, they say, because they had so many other bits that needed to be completed and shoehorned into this.

Um, and what we now need really is some sort of proof that their actions or the government's actions are gonna match their words.

Because throughout this document, um, there is a big focus on nature-friendly farming and sustainable farming methods, and that's great.

But of course, we have the SFI26, uh, reopening or opening for new applications, and of course, there isn't much budget attached to the SFI26.

So that's already a bit of a dilemma for me.

Um, however, I think we have to be probably more positive [chuckles] than I've just been in that, um, they have produced this, and that, um, now people will be able to see what it is that they really want from farmers.

Hugh, as Louise suggests, uh, this, uh, roadmap has been billed as something of a reset of the relationship between government and farming.

And Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds accepting that the government needs to change the way it measures farming's contribution to the economy, so it recognizes the value of the whole agrifood sector supported by farmers, not just the value of food as it, uh, leaves the farm gate.

And if it does that, it puts agriculture, the value of the agrifood sector, on a par with car manufacturing and indeed the construction sector.

Well, look, they're, they're, they're trumping this as a, a reset after the sort of basically the, the, the whole drama of inheritance tax and, and, and the seemingly anti-rural agenda that's come out of government since 2024.

Um, the GVA figure.

So yeah, so farming currently it sits at point six percent.

Um, but if you then say, well, actually, without farming, the whole agrifood sector wouldn't function because the raw material comes from the farms in the country, suddenly that figure jumps up to six point one percent, so it sounds really good.

You know, agrifood sector employs one in ten employees nationally, so it's huge.