Angela Eagle: Farming must be treated as a national security priority

Farming must be treated as a national security priority alongside energy and defence, Defra Secretary Angela Eagle has said, as she announced fresh support for farmers facing rising costs, extreme weather and bluetongue.

Speaking at the NFU’s Back British Farming Day reception, Eagle warned that food supply had been taken for granted for too long and said recent pressures had exposed the need for a more strategic approach to agriculture.

“It taught me as well that farming is as integral to our national security as energy or defence,” she said on Wednesday (9 September).

Eagle also warned over farm profitability, saying a third of farmers report making no profit.

“If we’re relying on farmers to put food on our tables, farming has to put money in the pockets of those who farm.”

She said the government was taking action to help the sector respond to immediate pressures while building a more profitable, productive and sustainable future.

Among the measures highlighted was a £65 million support package announced by the prime minister in his first month in office, including £15 million for on-farm reservoirs and improved access to water.

Eagle also confirmed that the second window of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 is expected to open on 22 September with an increased budget of £230 million.

The first window attracted 7,000 applications, with 87% coming from businesses without an existing Environmental Land Management agreement.

Farmers with agreements due to expire by the end of February 2027 will also be able to apply for SFI26 before their current agreement ends.

Bluetongue featured prominently in the speech, with Eagle acknowledging the pressure the outbreak is placing on livestock keepers.

She said the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) had published a new heat map of suspected and confirmed cases to help farmers understand the risk in their area.

A revised reporting process is also due to come into effect from Friday 11 September, which she said would make it quicker and easier to confirm the disease.

Eagle urged farmers to speak to their vets about vaccination, adding that it can significantly reduce the severity of bluetongue.

She also highlighted free annual vet visits available through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

The Environment Secretary said recent weather had reinforced the need to build greater resilience into farming.

The past year has brought rising input costs, depleted water supplies, repeated heatwaves and climate-related disease pressures.

“British farmers shouldn’t have to shoulder the risks of changing climate,” she said.

Eagle described the sector as being at a turning point after what she called the third difficult summer in five years.

She said the government’s Farming Roadmap would play a central role in setting a longer-term direction for the sector, combining food production with nature-based measures.

“The Roadmap doesn’t see nature and farming pulling in opposite directions. Healthy soil holds water in a drought, and it drains it in a deluge. Hedgerows shelter livestock in a heat wave, as do trees.”

Eagle also said the government’s Land Use Framework envisages changes to 15% of land use while maintaining current levels of food production.

Alongside SFI funding, the government has allocated £225 million to capital grants, up 50% on last year.

Eagle said the funding is supporting practical improvements, including the creation of 2,500km of new hedgerows, while also helping farm businesses improve profitability.

The Farming Improvement Partnership Board is also working with industry on sector growth plans, beginning with horticulture, with poultry and other sectors expected to follow.

Eagle said the government now needed to bring its farming, food and land-use policies together to create a clearer direction for the sector.

She said the aim was to improve profitability, strengthen resilience and protect the security of the UK’s food supply.

“On Back British Farming Day, therefore, I want to reiterate this government’s commitment to creating the conditions you need to adapt and to succeed, because when farmers thrive, the nation thrives.”