Burnham names farming as critical sector

A little noticed aspect of Andy Burnham's speech at the People's History Museum in the northern capital of Manchester was the following statement: "We need to safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors like steel, defence, energy, food and farming. Rather than being prepared to let it go as we have sadly done in the past.”

Including farming in this list is interesting given the Labour Government's fractious relationship with agriculture after the inheritance tax changes.

There is great scope for improving productivity in this sector using new technology, but this requires more capital investment, training and knowledge exchange.  The maximum grant available under Defra's ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund) has been doubled, but the fund itself does not meet the challenge.

The maximum eligible project cost has increased from £100,000 to £200,000.   A new funding window will open every eight to nine weeks.

Projects have to be collaborative with the lead partner in England rather than elsewhere in the UK.  Projects should run for between six and 24 months and will receive 80 per cent of eligible costs, alongside facilitator support from the ADOPT Support Hub delivered by ADAS, UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association

Regen farming suits heatwave

Another summer of record-high temperatures in England is accelerating the take-up of regenerative farming, a method that helps restore soil quality by cutting out chemicals and intensive ploughing, making it better at retaining water during hot spells.

Research by Barclays, published this week, found that more than half of the farmers surveyed this year had adopted regenerative practices, with nearly two-thirds of the 233 farmers saying they were reducing their pesticide or herbicide use.   The report can be found here: https://www.barclays.co.uk/content/dam/documents/business/agribusiness/Barclays_Resilience_in_the_Field_1July2026.pdf

 “Farmers are panicking about what to do . . . But those that started regenerative farming 10 to 15 years ago are in a more resilient place,” Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network told the Financail Times. The acceleration was both climate change-driven and a commercial imperative, the Barclays report found.

Agricultural input prices have increased by 6.7 per cent in the 12 months to April 2026, significantly ahead of inflation, according to official statistics. Fertiliser prices are not as high as they were at the beginning of the war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, giving farmers some breathing room.

The price rise provoked fears that arable production would fall significantly next year as farmers opted out of planting. “Much of that concern has dissipated,” Michael Haverty, partner at the Anderson’s Centre farm consultancy told the FT. “Fertiliser prices have not risen by as much as initially feared. As things stand, it gives time for supply to recover ahead of the next major applications of fertiliser in the spring.”

Longer term, farmers are advised to plant hedgerows and trees that provide shade for animals while also supporting biodiversity. “The best time to plant a tree was yesterday,” Holly Purdey, an organic livestock farmer in Somerset told the Pink ‘Un.

Nine years ago Purdey started planting hedgerows and trees to create natural shade for her sheep and cows. She also created natural water storage and flood management by digging ponds and trenches. “Sometimes [farmers] only act when it goes into a point of an emergency, because on farms, we’re often firefighting,” said Purdey.

This year’s arable harvest is projected to be better than last year, which was one of the worst harvests ever recorded. Despite a very dry April and May, late rainfall in May provided some relief for crops, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, a farmer-funded advisory group.

While yield outcomes for the harvest will depend on the severity of the heatwaves this summer, AHDB analyst Helen Plant said there was “reason for cautious optimism”. The take-up of regenerative agriculture has been aided by the UK’s post-Brexit agricultural support schemes, which pay farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and restore the natural environment.

The scheme should in theory successfully accelerate a transition to environmentally friendly farming, but that the former Conservative government arguably failed to ensure funds were fairly distributed. Last year, 4 per cent of England’s farms were receiving 25 per cent of the available funds, according to Defra.

The Labour government has since redesigned it to ensure smaller farms that were not yet enrolled in the schemes could also access it, opening it for applications in September this year.