Peter Gittins: Batters’ review must be turned into action
Supplied by Peter Gittins I was pleased to read Minette Batters’ Farm Profitability Review.
It is refreshing to see an inquiry handled by Baroness Batters, who has, on the whole, done a great service to the UK farming industry.
The report details a wide range of challenges and, more importantly, some solutions to tackle them.
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About the author
As an academic with a farming background, I also valued the methodological angle: drawing on secondary datasets while also engaging directly with farmers and the broader agricultural industry.
Too often these inquiries are driven by numbers alone and ignore the voice of farmers.
I particularly welcome the recommendations around reconceptualising “value” and what it means for farming as it is short-sighted to view agriculture’s contribution purely through GDP.
Agriculture underpins other sectors – food manufacturing and food service, for example – which contribute far more to GDP, yet depend on farming.
Although the challenges are well outlined and many solutions look achievable in practice, I fear many proposals will fall on deaf ears.
Government may implement only the low-hanging fruit – the things that fit what it is already doing – and present it as decisive action. I’m pessimistic about meaningful delivery.
Consistent problem
One line early in the report struck me. Baroness Batters states the recommendations were to be consistent with the UK Carbon Budget framework, the Climate Change Act, the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, and aligned with net-zero objectives.
The problem is that if the findings must be consistent with those frameworks, then the report cannot properly scrutinise them.
But should UK agriculture be pushed further down this route, given global emissions, food security, existing public goods delivery, and the rising costs, regulation and administrative burden already facing farmers?
That deserves its own independent investigation.
And trust remains a central issue. Ministers have increased inheritance tax allowances – a step in the right direction – but it has still left a bad taste in many farmers’ mouths and hasn’t repaired trust.
If government wants this review to mean anything, it will need to do more than accept a handful of easy wins.
It will need clear decisions, clear timelines, and a serious effort to rebuild credibility with the nation’s food producers and environmental custodians.
