James Farrell, Head of Rural Consultancy at Knight Frank, commenting on the Farming Profitability Review
“The completion of the Farming Profitability Review brings a necessary and welcome focus to the business realities of farming. Farms are, at their core, businesses, and like any other, they must generate profit to remain viable. Profitability underpins the sector’s ability to produce food, sustain rural economies and deliver meaningful environmental outcomes.
“At a time when farmers are facing significant structural and economic pressures, Baroness Batters’ recommendations for closer alignment between agricultural and economic policy, improved supply chain transparency and a fairer distribution of risk and reward point toward a more resilient and commercially confident sector. The establishment of the new Farming and Food Partnership Board, with its stated objective of strengthening domestic food production and ensuring policy delivers for farmers, is a positive first step in response to the review.”
“As the Government continues to state its ambitions for national growth, a profitable farming industry must be recognised as a cornerstone of delivery. With the right support, the sector can help close the £43 billion rural productivity gap identified by the CLA and acknowledged by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse. Realising this economic potential will depend on policies that value farming’s contribution and foster long-term investment, innovation and resilience.”