Farming and Rural Communities

Lord Carrington Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carrington (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my active farming interests in Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, for bringing this debate, and all noble Lords who have contributed so far on the wide number of topics that it involves. I think we can all agree there is vast uncertainty in farming and rural policy due to government action on taxes, SFI and, most importantly, the empty public purse. This is compounded by the forthcoming land use framework, the national food strategy, the 25-year farming road map, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Renters’ Rights Bill and much more.

Despite the uncertainty, farm businesses need to move on, although planning in relation to environmental measures and the horticultural sector must wait until further government announcements on the SFI later this year, as well as any replacement for the fruit and vegetable aid scheme. Productive, profitable farming needs to look at an industry without subsidies but with a level playing field when it comes to trade policy and import of agricultural products using methods and chemicals denied to our own farmers. However, the result of decreasing government support will have substantial fallout in the rural community, which the Government will need to address.

Unsubsidised farming competing internationally will not be able to afford voluntary environmental good work unless it benefits their farming system. Continuing support for the environment and biodiversity will be required, albeit in a more targeted manner. Parallel to this, it is great to see that, in the other place, Alistair Carmichael has introduced the food supply chain fairness Bill, which hopefully will increase margins for our farmers against major retailers.

As far as this debate is concerned, I wish to highlight the importance of growth and productivity in farming to the rural economy and particularly how to facilitate much-needed investment in agricultural science, innovation and technology. The APPG on Science and Technology in Agriculture, of which I am a member, has focused on the need to attract investment to support farm innovation, as the UK is a recognised powerhouse in terms of plant science and agri-research. The big challenge is to convert all these wonderful ideas into accessible, profitable commercial farming, and, for this, investment needs to be attracted from both the public and private sectors. So far, we have not been successful in launching public/private partnerships involving government, industry, science and investors. To bridge the gap between scientific research and commercialisation of these ideas, we need to study how other countries, such as Canada, Brazil and Australia, have successfully used this model of public/private partnerships to achieve this end.

The Oxford-Cambridge arc growth corridor is a welcome move by the Government to encourage growth based on our enviable scientific research. We need a series of innovation hubs with infrastructure and ecosystems which attract and support high-growth start-ups, investors and corporate partners. This works well in the United States and France. To quote a recent article in the Financial Times:

“Frequent convening of entrepreneurs, accelerators and talent is … vital. So is physical co-location of research, capital and industry”.


Our public finances may be weak, but the returns on investment in areas where we lead the world, such as agricultural-related science, far outweigh the costs.

With government encouragement, innovation hubs and a stable investment climate, we will be able to emulate the United States in targeting a 40% increase in food production by 2050, while reducing farming’s environmental footprint by 50%. With all the self-induced financial upsets, can the Minister tell us how the Government plan to bring stability into the agricultural industry, as this is the basic requirement for investment and growth?