Farming Roadmap ‘overtaken by events’, leaders warn

The government’s Farming Roadmap risks being overtaken by events just months after its publication, farming leaders have warned, after a summer of drought and disease exposed the sector’s vulnerability to shocks.

Published in June with an ambition to create a more resilient farming sector, the roadmap has since been followed by severe drought and the spread of bluetongue, while the prospect of wetter weather ahead is putting preparedness for this autumn under scrutiny.

This week, the Met Office warned that a potentially unprecedented El Nino is increasing the chances of wetter and stormier conditions this autumn and early winter.

See also: Drought and bluetongue push farms to ‘crisis point’

NFU president Tom Bradshaw told Farmers Weekly agriculture must now be brought into the prime minister’s wider 10-year plan to decentralise power and raise living standards – and said he expected the government to do so.

“I think we will get a commitment from them that we are part of that 10-year strategy, and the prime minister recognises that we need to be part of that 10-year strategy,” he said.

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn acknowledged the Farming Roadmap’s objectives remained valid.

But he pointed out that many of its measures – including changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery – had already been announced.

He also highlighted flood resilience as a major weakness.

“I don’t think we’re any more ready than we were last year or two years ago for a greater degree of precipitation this autumn,” Mr Dunn said.

“So what are we physically doing to get that stuff going? We need more action, not more strategy.”

Mr Bradshaw was similarly downbeat when asked whether the country was more prepared for flooding than two years ago.

“I haven’t seen any change at all,” he said.

Resilience gaps

Nature Friendly Farming Network chief executive Martin Lines shared the wider concern that the roadmap had been overtaken by the challenges now facing the sector, questioning how its objectives would actually be delivered.

“As we’ve seen with the drought and with bluetongue, there are no delivery mechanisms joining up with the roadmap,” he said.

He warned the damage to farm resilience could take years to repair.

“Many of us have lost money over the past two years. We have little cash left to invest for next year,” he said.

Mr Bradshaw shared these concerns and warned regulatory barriers are also blocking investment across farming, citing planning, abstraction licensing and tax treatment of capital investment.

“At the moment, farming is shouldering the risk of climate change,” he said.

“We need to think about how we share that risk burden with the rest of society and with the supply chain.”

Defra response

A Defra spokesman said: “We are delivering on the ambitions set out in our Farming Roadmap, providing farmers with long-term stability backed by immediate action.”

The department highlighted its £65m drought support package and proposed changes to the planning system to support construction of on-farm reservoirs.