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Defra Secretary Steve Reed announced at CLA conference today ( November 21) that they were developing a '25-year farming roadmap' to ‘transition farming' to new models' that are more environmentally, and also more financially sustainable for the long term.

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Mr Reed claimed the roadmap would be the ‘most forward-looking plan for farming' in the country's history, focused on making ‘farming and food production more profitable in decades to come'.

Defra

In his speech to delegates, he said: "I am not prepared to let so many farmers keep working so hard for so little. We need to work together to agree what we want British farming to look like in 25 years' time."

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He said the roadmap would 'not tell farmers what to do' and would be ‘farmer-led'.

"They [farmers] can tell Government what they need to make a success of this vital transition."

Chancellor's Budget

The announcement comes after tens of thousands of farmers protested outside Westminster in response to the Chancellor's budget proposals, with particular concerns raised around inheritance tax changes.

Mr Reed said: "On Tuesday I listened to farming leaders, and I listened to individual farmers who came to speak to me as well. I was struck by how many of them described the issue that had brought them onto the streets as ‘the final straw'.

'Disrespected'

"Those straws have been piling up for many decades now.  They are the frustrations of rural communities across Britain who feel misunderstood, neglected and frankly disrespected."

Mr Reed said the increased frustrations in the sector right now was ‘not just about tax or even just about farming – important as those things are.'

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"It is about a whole community demanding to be treated with respect."

'Work with rural communities' 

He said the Government will work ‘work with rural communities', promising to build affordable homes, give rural communities ‘control over their own buses and public transport', and to ‘rebuild' the NHS.

"We will direct public and private sector investment to rebuild rural economies as we rebuild our water infrastructure, with the biggest investment in that sector's history, our new clean energy infrastructure, and build 1.5 million new homes. 

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"Crime blights too many rural communities, so we will set up the first-ever cross-government Rural Crime Strategy and will put more neighbourhood police on rural streets to keep people safe from crime and anti-social behaviour – and crack down on nuisance like fly-tipping."

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He told delegates that he heard the ‘anguish of the countryside' on the streets of London earlier this week.

Mr Reed said: "We may not agree over inheritance tax changes. But this Government is determined to listen to rural Britain and end its long decline. 

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"We are investing £5 billion in sustainable food production to benefit farming, rebuilding our shattered public services that rural communities rely on, and fixing the foundations of our broken rural economies, so they can grow again sustainably for decades in the future.

"The opportunity before us is to turn the page on years of decline and give our rural communities back the respect they deserve."