George Freeman MP pushes for greater agri-tech investment

Former government minister and Conservative MP for Mid-Norfolk, George Freeman, has called for an urgent shift in government policy to back agri-tech and invest in UK agriculture as a key strategic industry.

During a keynote address at the Croptec Show in Birmingham on 15 January, Mr Freeman warned that UK agriculture was a great industry at risk of being seriously neglected.

Mr Freeman, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPGSTA), said the UK is still a global powerhouse in agricultural science and research, with 10 of the world’s top 30 research institutes.

See also: AHDB pilots Farm Data Exchange for beef and dairy sector

However, he cautioned that there was very little translation of the academic work being carried out by the research institutions into real world, on-farm innovation and advancements at ground level.

While serving as science minister, Mr Freeman was involved in the creation of the Government Agri-tech Strategy, including the launch of Agrimetrics, the agri-tech catalyst fund, and regional hubs.

Mr Freeman said: “I set up the regional agri innovation centres, and the scientists ‘stole’ all the money and took it back into the lab.”

He added that he wanted a network of regional innovation farms where farmers could go to find out what innovation in their sector looks like and how they could use it.

Future land use

The APPGSTA has long been advocating a 30:50:50 approach – producing 30% more food with 50% less environmental impact by 2050.

However, figures published by think tank Science for Sustainable Agriculture suggest the UK has lost 4.4% of its agricultural land area in the past 25 years, the equivalent to 771,000ha of farmland.

Mr Freeman said: “If we carry on, we’re going to lose 23% of farmland by 2050 so you’re now trying to increase production on a smaller land area.

“We don’t have a policy framework that encourages, rewards and supports [farmers] to deliver more for less.

“In fact, policy in the last 20 years has been deliver less with less, for less.”

Mr Freeman asserted that there needed to be cross-party consensus that, without a major policy reset, the whole industry was at risk.

He added: “This government is in danger of seeing family farms shut down, losing a great industry, losing a huge inward investment and export opportunity, and leaving us very vulnerable to food security shocks.

“That’s a pretty serious list of things you don’t want to happen.”