The Environment Secretary set out his vision to boost farmers’ profitability and sustainability as part of the Plan for Change at yesterday’s Oxford Farming conference.

Richard Broadbent, director in the environmental team at national law firm Freeths, shares his view on the three strands; a) food production, b) diversification of incomes, c) nature recovery. 

“It is good to see the Secretary of State placing a focus on helping landowners diversify incomes and enter into nature recovery schemes. At Freeths we have been working with landowners for years on this, with our Clean Energy team working with landowners to bring forward renewable energy schemes and our Natural Capital team advising on nature recovery schemes connected with Biodiversity Net Gain and Nutrient Neutrality. We recognise the importance of these initiatives and are pleased to see the Secretary of State reiterate the Government’s backing.

“Regulations serve a purpose, but we recognise the Secretary of State’s concern that they can be burdensome in a way that holds back farm businesses. The Secretary of State has said that he wants to move away from a “patchwork of regulations to a coherent system that is less time-consuming”. That is not a new thing to say, successive Government’s have tried and failed to do this in the past. The devil is always in the detail, and the challenge in the past has been maintaining existing food safety or environmental standards despite simplifying processes. We will need to see more detail on this to understand how this Government will try to cut the Gordian’s Knot.

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s comment that “Restoring nature is vital to food production, not in competition with it.” He is completely correct that “Healthy soils rich in nutrients and organic matter, abundant pollinators and clean water are essential for sustainable food production”. There is no food security if we are reliant on foreign powers (sometimes hostile ones) for the fertilizers we need for our crops because we have degraded our soils. Regenerative, sustainable farming which is both ecologically beneficial and capable of generating food is a policy worth pursuing. It can also have additional benefits for society – for example, ecologically healthier soils are better able to retain water on the land, reducing downstream flooding and reducing diffuse water pollution. Both flooding and nutrient pollution are key factors affecting homeowners and homebuilders.

“It’s also good to see the Secretary of State confirm that the Government will “deliver a land use framework that protects food security, working for farm businesses and for nature”. We have waited a long time for a land use framework after the previous Government announced that it would publish one and then decided it was a political potato which was too hot to handle. We will see whether the land use framework which this Government produces is in fact meaningful and is capable of providing a clear national strategy for economic growth, food security, public health and the environment.

“In contrast to some recent Government rhetoric, including from the Secretary of State, it is good to get a sense from this speech that we should not see farming as either food production or nature recovery, but rather both food production and nature recovery. That is a more sensible, productive policy space to be in.”