Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dave Robertson and Emma Reynolds

Thursday 9th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) (Lab)]

16. What steps she is taking to support the long-term financial sustainability of farm businesses.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Reynolds)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan), the new farming and food Minister, and I published our new farming road map, which is the first ever long-term strategy for farming. It sets out a vision for a more productive, profitable, sustainable and resilient sector. The primary purpose of farming, as set out in the road map, is food production, which goes hand in hand with improving the environment. We are driving towards a lower-input, more nature-friendly farming system.

[Dave Robertson]

Farmers across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages know that one of the most important things for them to make their businesses work is access to fertiliser at a price that allows them to be profitable. What can the Government do to ensure that fertiliser prices do not spike, as we have seen in the last couple of years, and remain stable in the long term?

[Emma Reynolds]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. We are engaging with the National Farmers’ Union on this; we know it is a great concern for farmers. We have asked the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to increase fertiliser price reporting, so it is now doing that weekly rather than monthly. We have already consulted on suspending tariffs for certain fertilisers, and we have rolled out an online tool to help farmers use fertilisers more efficiently.

Farming Road Map and Profitability Review

Debate between Dave Robertson and Emma Reynolds

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a long name; there are lots of letters in the second bit.

The farming road map that we have seen today sets out a long-term plan for fertiliser. That will be really welcome for farmers across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages because, due to actions way beyond this Government’s control in the strait of Hormuz, we are seeing real cost pressures. Can the Secretary of State give us an idea of when that long-term plan might be ready, and whether it will consider strategic reserves and diversifying the sources of fertiliser? Can she tell us what that will do to ensure that we have the fertiliser we need?

[Emma Reynolds]

I think my hon. Friend’s name is very striking, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We are consulting on longer-term plans to change fertiliser rules so that we can diversify the sorts of fertilisers that farmers can use. We are also looking to see how we can ensure that fertiliser markets function more fairly, in the way that I have suggested in previous answers.