Mark Tufnell said: "agriculture is a vibrant sector for research and development, with huge potential for increased productivity and automation. This announcement takes us one step closer to exploiting that potential, and farmers across the country will be looking with interest to see how they can use this support to improve their own productivity." 

"Funding alone, however, will not fix our productivity issues. We know of many farm businesses who have scrapped plans for investment in, for example, farm reservoirs, because the planning regime is so woeful that it takes simply too long to receive the appropriate permissions. So any financial support from government needs to go hand in hand with regulatory reform to guarantee results.

"We warmly welcome new funding to support small abattoirs, many of which are struggling to survive in difficult economic and regulatory circumstances.  These local facilities play an often-overlooked role in the sector."