The NFU has issued a robust response to the government’s farm profitability review, warning that British agriculture is facing a “perfect storm” of pressures threatening its long-term viability.
Led by former NFU President Baroness Minette Batters, the review, announced in April , seeks to address the increasingly difficult landscape for farmers.
Pressing issues include low investment, market instability, uncertain policy direction such as the inheritance tax reform, and mounting climate-related challenges.
In its submission, the union outlines a package of key reforms aimed at improving resilience and securing sustainable growth for the sector.
Central to its recommendations are three priority areas: better access to finance, a rebalanced supply chain, and a modern, enabling regulatory environment that supports innovation and business development.
The organisation is calling for enhanced investment opportunities, including greater access to finance, more effective use of tax reliefs, and a national drive to boost on-farm energy resilience.
A stable and predictable policy framework, it argues, is also vital to restore long-term confidence and unlock investment across the sector.
To support business development, the NFU advocates for more flexible planning systems, streamlined and modern regulation, and increased investment in near-market research and development. It also highlights the importance of improved knowledge transfer to drive productivity and innovation on farms.
Supply chain reform is another key pillar of the NFU’s response. It urges government action to strengthen market incentives, improve price transparency, and ensure UK farmers can compete on a level playing field both domestically and internationally.
More equitable trading relationships and expanded market opportunities—both at home and abroad—are critical to restoring confidence, the union says.
Persistent market failures across the agri-food system must also be addressed. The NFU highlights the role of government schemes such as the Environmental Land Management programme (ELMs) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in aligning environmental outcomes with productive and profitable farming.
It also supports the mobilisation of private finance through supply-chain insetting agreements as a route to funding sustainable practices.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw underscored the urgency of the situation: “This review comes at a critical moment for the farming industry. It lands as farmers face a perfect storm and for many, it’s become a battle to keep their businesses afloat.”
He pointed to growing uncertainty across the sector—fuelled by unstable investment conditions, policy ambiguity, volatile markets, increasingly erratic weather, and looming changes to inheritance tax.
In some cases, he noted, the core mission of food production has been overshadowed by a more urgent struggle for financial survival.
“This review presents our industry with an important opportunity to identify those areas of reform that are desperately needed to not only improve business confidence but drive competitiveness and profitability, which are critical elements of thriving farming businesses,” Mr Bradshaw said.
He added that greater financial access, transparent supply chains and smarter planning rules could be “transformative” for the sector.
Alongside its overarching recommendations, the NFU submission includes detailed, sector-specific proposals covering combinable crops, horticulture, sugar, livestock, dairy, and poultry.
These range from a statutory Horticulture Buyers’ Code and improved fertiliser and grain data collection, to enhanced support for small abattoirs, stronger disease control frameworks, and new measures to grow dairy exports.
