Defra Secretary faces calls for faster planning and abstraction reform

Farm leaders have urged the government to ease water and planning restrictions as worsening drought conditions threaten food production across England.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw raised the demands during his first face-to-face meeting with newly appointed Defra Secretary Dame Angela Eagle at the department’s Westminster offices.

The talks focused on water abstraction, on-farm storage, planning barriers and permitted development rights.

The NFU is calling for more flexible abstraction rules, faster planning decisions and greater support for infrastructure that could help farms withstand prolonged dry weather.

The meeting came as the Environment Agency placed several more areas of England into drought status.

East Anglia, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, Wessex, parts of the Thames area, including London, and parts of Hampshire were moved into drought status on 29 July.

Parts of Kent, the East Midlands and the North West were placed in prolonged dry weather status.

Figures cited by the NFU showed that England received just 3% of its long-term average rainfall in July, with no rain recorded in parts of the south and east.

Reservoir storage stood at 78.8%, around five percentage points below the long-term average.

The country’s third heatwave of the year also brought temperatures above 30°C for 12 consecutive days, bringing harvests forward and increasing the risk of combine fires and wildfires.

Mr Bradshaw said: “Following our constructive telephone conversation last week, I was pleased to meet the Secretary of State in person to continue discussions on the key issues facing Britain’s farmers and growers.”

He said the talks reflected a shared recognition of the pressures facing the sector, particularly the effects of dry weather and restrictions affecting farm development.

“Our meeting reinforced a shared understanding of the challenges affecting the farming sector, including barriers to planning, permitted development rights and the impacts of the dry weather on members up and down the country,” he said.

Mr Bradshaw argued that changes to planning and abstraction rules would allow farms to invest in reservoirs and other measures designed to strengthen their water security.

“Sorting out planning and abstraction rights is one of the significant levers government could pull to build more resilient farming businesses,” he said.

The NFU said water should be treated as critical national infrastructure because of its importance to domestic food production.

NFU deputy president Paul Tompkins also raised the impact of the dry weather during a meeting of the National Drought Group with Defra minister Emma Hardy.

He called for closer coordination between government, water companies and vulnerable agricultural customers as supplies come under growing pressure.

Mr Tompkins also urged ministers to support more investment in on-farm water storage and give growers greater flexibility when accessing water through abstraction licences.

Mr Bradshaw and Dame Angela discussed the Farming and Food Partnership Board, agreeing that it should begin delivering more practical results for domestic food production.

The NFU president said his previous dealings with Dame Angela had created a constructive basis for further discussions.

“Dame Angela and I have built a positive and straight-talking relationship through her previous ministerial roles, and I welcome her commitment to working closely with the industry,” he said.

Dame Angela joined Defra in 2025 and served as Farming Minister from September 2025 until June 2026.

During that period, she visited farms with the NFU and attended the organisation’s 2026 conference.

Mr Bradshaw said farmers now needed decisions that would allow them to invest, expand and respond to more frequent periods of dry weather.

“We agreed that farmers and growers need practical action and timely delivery if we are to unlock growth and build resilience into our domestic food production system,” he said.

The meeting also covered concerns about the possible effect of restrictions on Brazilian beef entering the European Union.

The EU is due to introduce a ban from 3 September unless Brazil provides guarantees that affected products have not been treated with antibiotics considered critical for human health or used to promote growth.

The NFU is concerned that disruption to EU trade could have consequences for the British beef market.

“I took the opportunity to raise our significant concerns about the negative impacts on the domestic beef sector as a consequence of the EU banning imports of Brazilian beef from the beginning of September,” Mr Bradshaw said.

Defra is carrying out an audit, while the NFU said it would publish further information as the situation developed.

NFU vice-president Robyn Munt also met Defra minister Stephen Morgan at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show as part of the union’s wider engagement with the government.

Mr Bradshaw has written to nine Cabinet ministers outlining the NFU’s priorities for farming, food production and rural businesses.

The union said faster decisions on abstraction, planning and water storage would be essential if farms were to cope with longer and more severe periods of dry weather.