More comments on today’s announcement by DEFRA

• RBST: Rare Breeds Survival Trust, which conserves and promotes the UK’s native livestock and equine breeds, has responded to Defra’s announcement about the Farming Roadmap

Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price says: “RBST welcomes the government's commitment to providing farmers with greater long-term certainty and its recognition that resilience must be at the heart of future farming policy.

“Native livestock breeds have an important role to play in delivering the roadmap's ambitions, providing the genetic diversity, adaptability and environmental benefits that will help farming respond to climate change, strengthen nature recovery, improve soil health and build more resilient food production systems. As the roadmap is developed, it will be important to ensure that the conservation and sustainable use of our native breeds is recognised as a key part of securing the future of English agriculture."

• Waitrose: Tom Denyard, Managing Director of Waitrose, said:

"We welcome the Government's 25-year Farming Roadmap as a vital commitment to the long-term future of British agriculture. Britain's farming sector offers the highest quality, environmental and welfare standards in the world; the very reasons we champion British sourcing all year round.

"The roadmap will help accelerate our plans with commitments to nature-based solutions and providing farmers with access to better tools and technology. It offers an important vision for building a resilient, productive, and sustainable food system. We hope it provides farmers with the certainty they need to plan for the future. We look forward to working closely with the Government, and our trusted farming partners, to turn this vision into a reality that ensures British agriculture continues to thrive for generations to come."

• CLA: CLA President Gavin Lane said

"The ambition of Defra's long-term Farming Roadmap is welcome, but for many farmers the immediate challenge is staying profitable.

"High costs, low returns and increasingly volatile weather continue to put huge pressure on farm businesses.

"The roadmap must now be matched by action. Farmers need a stable policy environment, greater clarity on farming schemes, meaningful planning reform and a more joined-up approach to rural affairs across government.

"Without profitable farm businesses, the government's ambitions for food production and nature recovery simply will not be achieved."

https://www.cla.org.uk/

• GREENPEACE: Commenting on the government's new 25 Year Farming Plan, Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace UK, said:

"A plan that recognises farmers urgently need help to cope with climate extremes and to break free from a reliance on pesticides and fertilisers is very welcome. For too long, farmers have been left to struggle under enormous pressure to produce more food with less support.

"Nature underpins the very foundations of our food system, yet powerful agrochemical companies have been allowed to make enormous profits by locking farmers into a dependency on costly chemical inputs. These pesticides and fertilisers don't just kill pests, they literally strip the life from our countryside - poisoning crucial pollinators, damaging soils and polluting our waterways.

"It's time for a radical shift back towards farming that works with nature and actually reaps the benefits from it. Many farmers are already showing that's possible, others are more than ready for it, but all need proper funding and support from the government to make nature-friendly farming the norm."