“This is a thorough and complex report, and we will take our time to digest the details and analyse the recommendations made by Baroness Batters to improve the profitability of Britain’s farming businesses,” said NFU President Tom Bradshaw in response to the report’s publication.
The farm profitability review contains short-, medium- and long-term recommendations which input into the government's Food Strategy, Farming Roadmap, and Land Use Framework.
Read the report in full at: GOV.UK | Farming Profitability Review 2025.
Reform is needed
“Secretary of State Emma Reynolds recently said that farm profitability was vital to enable the UK agriculture sector to grow. We couldn’t agree more.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
“As we continue to face huge and wide-ranging challenges from geopolitical uncertainty and trade deals that threaten to undermine our marketplace, to uncertainty around the future of environmental schemes, extreme weather events, continued price volatility and the unfair family farm tax, this report is right to recognise that reform is needed,” Tom Bradshaw said.
“Changes that will drive competitiveness and profitability, which are critical elements of thriving farming businesses, are also crucial to achieving the government’s own targets for economic growth.
“This is about enhancing the financial resilience and long-term sustainability of British farming – the bedrock of the nation’s largest manufacturing sector, food and drink, worth £153 billion to the economy and an industry that supports more than four million jobs.”
New Board to bring together industry and government
Prior to the report’s publication, the NFU made a submission to the review, setting out our key priorities which we believe are needed to provide stability and restore farmer confidence.
“It’s therefore encouraging that the five priority areas singled out by Defra are consistent with what the NFU has been calling on government to prioritise,” Tom said.
Defra has said these five priority areas are:
- The creation of a new Farming and Food Partnership Board.
- Planning reforms ‘to make food production a clearer priority in the planning system’.
- ‘Stepping up action on supply chain fairness’ to include scrutiny of unfair practices and considering changes to Groceries Code Adjudicator oversight.
- Tackling barriers to private finance.
- Supporting exports and new markets, ‘with ministers leading dedicated trade missions in 2026 to showcase British food and drink overseas’.
As the report was published, Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds announced that she would chair the new Farming and Food Partnership Board, with Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle as deputy.
Defra said the Board would bring together senior leaders from farming, food production, retail, finance and government.
“The creation of a new Farming and Food Partnership Board with profitability and food security at its heart will enhance collaboration and ensure the government and industry can work in partnership delivering on the issues that matter most for the sector," said NFU President Tom Bradshaw.
“A commitment to continue working on supply chain fairness is a top priority for all farming sectors, while delivering planning reforms will help underpin growth for the industry. Refocused efforts on growing our exports is also welcome and vital to adding value for domestic producers.
“And while private finance can play a big part in delivering new income streams and delivering for nature, we can’t hide from the fact that significant challenges remain to this beyond the pilot stage to a truly scalable market delivering financial opportunities for farmers.”
NFU stands ready to work with government
Former NFU President Baroness Batters thanked those who had responded to the review, adding that she was pleased the Defra Secretary recognised “the need to establish a new approach to growing the British brand at home and abroad”.
“Now is the time to deliver food security as national security,” she said.
The government has said its response to the farm profitability review will be set out through the new 25-year Farming Roadmap, which it plans to publish in the new year.
“The ball is now in Defra’s court,” Tom said. “Ministers have to drive these priority areas forward. But alongside this, there are other immediate actions that are needed to boost British farming like providing much-needed clarity and certainty on the future of SFI and doing the right thing on the pernicious inheritance tax changes.
“Secretary of State Emma Reynolds recently said that farm profitability was vital to enable the UK agriculture sector to grow. We couldn’t agree more. The NFU stands ready to work with government to deliver our collective ambitions for economic growth delivered by a British agriculture sector that is set up to thrive.”
