PROPOSAL 3

Raising Of the Annual Agricultural Budget By 58% from 3.6 Billion To 5.7 Billion.

Alongside our other proposals aimed at tackling the profitability crisis in agriculture such as the Minimum Profitable Price Guarantee and the Cumulative Low Interest Loan Scheme for Farming we believe that the main DEFRA agricultural budget is insufficient to deliver the support required for farming to deliver stability and long-term growth within the sector.

An increase requirement of this size highlights the inadequacy of current funding levels. In 2019 under the EU Common Agricultural Policy we received 4.7 billion, adjusted for inflation over the past 5 years this would be 5.7 billion in today’s money. The 2023 NFU commissioned Andersons Centre report on public funding stated that 4 billion is required to deliver government objectives within agriculture and The Nature Friendly Farming Network put the figure at 6 billion.

With an economic contribution of less than 1% of GDP, farming is often overlooked by political parties in the pursuit of increased economic growth. But the social, environmental and economic impact of agriculture is infinitely greater than a narrow metric like GDP can account for. The creation of a thriving, prosperous countryside with stable food systems operating within a well-maintained environment will mean a cost to the taxpayer but it is an essential spend and should never be overlooked. Therefore, we propose:

i) the raising of the annual agricultural budget 58% from 3.6 billion to 5.7 billion with immediate effect.