NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “It’s encouraging to see the Defra Secretary of State’s real ambition for a thriving agriculture industry, demonstrated by her announcements made today, as well as her commitment to working collaboratively with farmers and growers.
“Domestically, creating policies that support productivity and growth remain key and I am pleased to hear the Secretary of State talk about the much-needed clarity coming ahead of each payment windows for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Farming is a long-term investment, measured in years, not months, and clarity is essential for confidence. Transparency around the farming budget is critical to this. Without transparency, farmers and growers are unable to plan for their businesses’ future.
“On a global scale, growing exports for British food abroad and ensuring imported products meet our productions standards will ensure our sector can compete on a level playing field.
“Important questions remain on the detail and delivery, from the 25-year Farming Roadmap to the roll out of the Farming Profitability Review. We want to work with government to drive these policies forward to create confidence and profitability for farming and growing businesses and ensure 2026 sees British farming achieve all it is capable of.”
Responding to the Defra Secretary of State’s update on SFI NFU Deputy President David Exwood said: “It’s positive to hear Defra Secretary of State talk about much-needed plans to reform the SFI and a commitment to work collaboratively with farmers and growers, particularly in our uplands and protected landscapes.
“But there remains a huge lack of detail that farmers and growers urgently need and this uncertainty continues to undermine farmers’ confidence, ability to invest and do the best for their business.
“We recognise that the farming budget is finite and that SFI has to be spread more evenly across the industry, with a particular focus on the coming 12 months. But for farming and growing businesses to deliver the public goods the scheme originally set out to achieve, it is vital that it is accessible and relevant to all food producing businesses, no matter the size. That is why if there has to be an SFI funding cap, we support a cap per hectare for SFI agreements on farm.
“There are 27,8002 farmers in agri-environment schemes whose agreements are set to expire at the end of the 2026/2027 financial year. With that deadline on the horizon, it is essential that we get a clear understanding from Defra about the SFI budget for the two application windows to allow continuity of environmental delivery that already exists of farm.”
