When the Environment isn't Important

 Reposted from Edie.

Defra never did employ the sharpest knives in the box!

Defra slammed for setting up farm profitability board ‘without environmental expertise’

WWF has criticised the UK Government’s apparent decision to exclude environmental charities and ecologists from a new farming industry board intended to boost resilience and profitability across the sector.

 

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is setting up a new Farming and Food Partnership Board following a review into measures to enhance farmer livelihoods.

This review was conducted by former NFU president Minette Batters, with final recommendations published this week. It comes after polling found that three-quarters of farmers have seen reduced incomes since 2020, pushing many to diversify their business models or even leave the sector.

A statement from Defra stipulates that the new Board will include representatives from agriculture, finance and retail businesses as well as policy experts. It will be chaired by Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds and the deputy chair will be Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle.

The statement reads: “The Board will focus on removing barriers to investment, improving how the supply chain works and unlocking growth opportunities across different parts of primary production and processing. It will have a clear emphasis on supporting agricultural productivity, homegrown British produce and strengthening food security.

WWF has expressed concern about the Board’s proposed makeup. It stated that the proposed membership of the Board is “envisaged without environmental expertise”, at a time when extreme weather is harming farm productivity and biodiversity is in decline.

“A strong, profitable domestic farming sector only contributes to food security when it also protects and enhances the natural capital which sustains food production: a stable climate, healthy soils, clean rivers and abundant wildlife,” said WWF’s policy lead on production, Sofia Parente.

Even the NFU said the notes fall short on the environment, as they provide no clarity on when the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will re-open for applications following its abrupt closure this spring.

Defra’s notes on the Board do make passing reference to climate resilience. For example, it will advise the Government on how best to reform the planning system to speed up the delivery of on-farm reservoirs, which will help farmers cope with droughts.

The notes also refer to unlocking private investment into “farm transformation”.

Strategic approach needed

The review has been published as Defra works with other Government departments to finalise a new land-use strategy. This will set out how competing demands for land, from activities such as housebuilding, energy infrastructure expansion, fuel production, nature conservation and farming will be strategically managed.

2026 should also see the UK Government updating the National Food Strategy. The previous iteration, published under the Conservatives, was widely criticised for excluding the majority of expert recommendations made by review lead Henry Dimbleby and his team.

Batters’ review concluded that, without these overarching plans, farmers are “taking decisions in isolation” without confidence in a coordinated direction of travel for the long run.

The poultry problem

Nature NGOs are concerned that Batters’ review states that the UK has “significant untapped potential” to increase the domestic production of horticulture products and poultry.

There are fears that this could, in practice, mean the creation of many more industrial chicken farming units.

The Soil Association last year published an analysis of the ecological state of stretches of the River Wye, concluding that increasing algae blooms are attributable to phosphate and nitrogen pollution.

Similar issues are visible along stretches of river in Shropshire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Powys and Herefordshire.

The blame for the problem has been placed at the foot of large-scale industrial chicken farms. Most deny responsibility and claim that they properly manage animal wastes and chemical inputs.

“Farmers operating these units are often doing so out of financial necessity and need a viable alternative,” said the Soil Association’s head of food policy Rob Percival. “Urgent Government action is needed.”