Historically, the Conservatives have been the party of the countryside. However, recent by-election results show increased competition for the rural vote, particularly for the agricultural vote. Farmers make up a comparatively small proportion of the electorate, but their footprint on rural communities is significant.
Farmers stitch local communities together, producing high-quality food, creating jobs, and conserving our natural environment. It is difficult to imagine our countryside without them.
Public outrage over the felling of the Sycamore Gap and growing concern about water quality also show the salience of the environment on the doorstep. There is a clear advantage for a party with an ambitious programme for protecting the future of farming and our natural world.
The good news is that we have more levers now than at any point in the last half century with which to make this happen. Outside of the EU, the UK is free of the tight constraints of the Common Agricultural Policy, and able to establish a system of farm support that fairly rewards farmers, encourages innovation, and prioritises our natural world. The Government’s Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) mark a significant step in this direction.
Further good progress has been made. Last month, the Environment Secretary announced over fifty new payment options for farmers, an average increase to payment rates of over ten percent. Clearer labelling requirements on imported food to highlight animal welfare standards will also protect British farmers’ from being undercut at the supermarket. But we must now go further.
Climate change will make extreme weather events more likely, damaging crops and hitting their profit margins. Recent flooding’s devastating impact is still being felt by farmers and provides a taste of things to come. Research shows that the effects of climate change and historically high fossil fuel prices increased the average household’s food bill by £605 in 2022 and 2023.
Similarly, if biodiversity continues to decline at its current rate, pollinator numbers will fall, further affecting crop yields and our food security. Unfair trading practices by the supermarkets and increased competition due to imports are also squeezing farmers’ profit margins. To respond to these challenges, the Conservative Environment Network has published a new manifesto which aims to secure the future of farming and our natural environment.
Developed with members of our 130-strong parliamentary caucus, farmers, and environmentalists, this manifesto presents a bold, conservative plan to strengthen farmers’ finances with lucrative public and private payments for environmental public goods; build fairer food markets to ensure farmers are paid properly for their produce without the need for state subsidy; cut planning red tape to help farmers go green; and boost British agri-tech to help farmers reduce their environmental impact.
The sector is going through a necessary transition. Agriculture accounts for the largest single use of land in the UK, covering 71 per cent of the total land mass. Our twin goals for safeguarding our environment for future generations – halting the decline of nature by 2030 and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – will only be achieved with the support of farmers.
But the ongoing protests across Europe show the dangers of clumsily designed policies that penalise farmers. Instead, we must support and empower farmers as they transition to more sustainable practices. Brexit provided the freedom for us to do this, with new powers to create a competitive regulatory environment for new agri-tech, improve transparency across supply chains to boost competition and target public money at public goods – ensuring better value for money whilst conserving the natural world for future generations.
Despite these new freedoms, farmers are frequently tied up in planning red tape which prevents them from building new reservoirs, farm buildings, or opening new farm shops that could have environmental benefits. The system needs simplifying to improve farmers’ profitability and aid their role as custodians of the land.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, once the breadbasket of Europe, sharpened minds to the importance of domestic food production. The Government has rightly committed to at least maintain our level of self-sufficiency. Doing this sustainably helps tackle the two biggest threats to food security: climate change and biodiversity.
To ensure the Government delivers, the ELMs budget should be restored in real terms and indexed to future increases in inflation. Without this support, some farmers may choose not to participate in the schemes, limiting the prospect of halting the decline of biodiversity by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.
At the same time, we need to remove the barriers that may stop farmers from engaging with new agri-environment schemes. Agricultural relief on Inheritance Tax, for example, is available on ‘productive’ agricultural land, but farmland which is delivering benefits for nature as part of ELMs or private nature markets is not eligible. This creates a perverse incentive to not participate. The Chancellor should redress this imbalance at the Budget.
British farmers have some of the highest animal welfare and environmental standards in the world. As a result, ‘British’ is often recognised as a byword for ‘quality’. New free trade agreements, particularly with new and emerging markets, provide an exciting opportunity for farmers to export more of their premium produce. The Government should continue to support them to take full advantage of increased market access.
In addition to the economic and national security imperative to maintaining domestic food production, there is no environmental benefit to offshoring food production. We should be unafraid to use our diplomatic weight and trading power to drive environmental ambition. It simply cannot be right that goods that contribute to the deforestation of global forests are available on supermarket shelves, undermining British farmers. Ministers should look to extend businesses’ responsibility for ensuring their supply chains are not culpable in the loss of precious habitats.
In this general election year, now is the time to fully grasp the nettle, make good on the promises of Brexit, secure the future of farming, and repay the trust of rural voters.
First published by ConservativeHome. Jordan Lee is the Conservative Environment Network's Nature Programme Manager