Farmers are being handed a £53million funding boost as ministers scramble to help the industry cope with soaring fertiliser costs and increasingly extreme weather.
The package, announced by Defra, increases funding for the Farming Innovation Programme to £123million this year and includes support for robotics, soil health and water management projects.
The move comes as farmers face growing pressure from heatwaves, droughts and flooding, alongside rising fertiliser prices linked to instability in the Middle East.
Ministers say the new roadmap is designed to give farmers confidence to plan “beyond the next harvest” and reduce their reliance on expensive imported fertilisers.
Seasonal worker visas will also be extended until 2030, providing greater certainty for fruit and vegetable growers who rely on overseas labour during peak harvesting periods.
The Government hopes that investment in new technology and nature-based solutions will help strengthen Britain’s food security while making farms more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The announcement comes as the UK faces another spell of unusually hot weather, with experts warning that extreme conditions are becoming increasingly common.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union, said: “After nearly two years of waiting for this roadmap, it’s good to see resilience, profitability, productivity and sustainability at its heart – all areas we’ve been urging the government to focus on. The government is right to say that the national security context has changed. Combined with climate and economic shocks, the fragilities of our food system now feel very exposed, and we need to move rapidly into delivery mode to turn this around.
“However, while the roadmap is full of ambition, it falls short on action and even shorter on the means of delivery.
“The roadmap sets out a welcome multi-year direction for farming, yet there is no long-term funding to go with it. Intent alone won’t deliver a secure and affordable supply of homegrown food for the nation, nor care for 70% of England’s landscape.
“The Treasury is conspicuously absent in this plan. Instead, it tips the balance of risk even more onto the shoulders of farmers, with much of the investment expected to come from business bank accounts which have been sucked dry over recent years due to soaring costs and unsustainably low margins.”
David Bean, of the Countryside Alliance, said: “While we haven’t yet seen the detail of this new plan, on its face it’s encouraging to see the government taking the future of British farming seriously. In addition to the extra funding for innovation, it’s especially welcome that the government is taking new steps to account fully for the value the food and farming sector produces every year.
“Clearly the government is experiencing some instability at the moment but the work of supporting our farmers must continue.”
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “Farmers feed our nation and manage the land that shapes our countryside, yet their contribution has never been valued in the way it deserves.
“Our roadmap marks a shift away from only looking to the next harvest and towards a plan that gives farmers the long-term clarity they need to innovate, invest and grow with confidence for generations to come.
“I have spent every day in this role rebuilding our relationship with farmers brick by brick because they’re such an important part of our economy, our society and our environment.”
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