Farming

Noah Law Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

The economic fundamentals of farming must be a priority, and I call on the Government to focus on the key determinants of farm operating profitability. There are many drivers of what makes a British farm successful, but structural pressures—buyer oligopolies, price input volatility, international trade challenges, differentials in welfare and environmental standards and even our consumer culture—continue to threaten their viability. As a result, we have seen increasing consolidation, with many farmers shifting to larger, more arable-focused operations.

When it comes to trade, livestock farming has been hit particularly hard. The deeply flawed trade deal with New Zealand was a hammer blow to sheep farmers and our great British land industry, undermining domestic producers and putting British farmers at a competitive disadvantage.

Then there are the standards themselves. Our farmers operate to world-leading standards of animal welfare, food safety and environmental sustainability—standards of which we are rightly proud. Yet there is little recognition of the additional costs that those standards impose. Instead, we allow products from other countries with lower standards to flood our shelves, undercutting the British farmers who are doing the right thing. If we value high-quality British food, we must ensure that our policies reflect that through, for example, fairer trade deals, better labelling, financial support that compensates for those higher costs and being honest about the onshoring of emissions, as the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) outlined at the start of the debate.

Some farms are more profitable than others not just because of their scale and type of agriculture, but because of their operating environment—an operating environment that the Government play a crucial role in shaping. Access to targeted support for innovation and environmental land management can empower farms to thrive, yet, too often, the support fails to reach the farms that need it the most.

I welcome this Government’s successful deployment of SFI, which is something that the previous Government failed to do, but immediate visibility is needed for farms looking to implement the next wave of those initiatives. The power of supermarkets must also be addressed to ensure that farmers receive a fair return. Again, I must say that this is a massive cultural challenge and a shift that needs to take place regarding the value that we place on our food.

Consider, too, the geographical disparities. Farmers in Cornwall, for example, face unique challenges: smaller fields, which take great, often generational knowledge to manage; higher transportation costs; and greater exposure to extreme weather. Yet they receive the same market prices as larger, lowland farms with fewer overheads. Government policy must acknowledge that uneven playing field and ensure that support reaches those most challenging farms and geographies, which are essential to navigating our rural landscapes such as that in Cornwall.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Johnson]

I find them extremely difficult to reconcile. In early October, I went to the “Farmers Weekly” awards in London where the Minister, in his red bowtie, gave a speech in which he said that the Government would have the farmers’ backs. I am sure he believed it was true when he said it, but within a month, he was unfortunately proven wrong with this Government’s Budget.

Many Members have talked about the profitability of farming. How will the family farm tax make farms more profitable? How will the family business tax, the drastic drops in delinked payments, the rise in the minimum wage, rising national insurance contributions, or the tax on double cab pick-ups make farms more profitable? They will not. How will closing the SPI payment scheme early and without notice, despite having promised to give notice, make farms more profitable and businesses more secure? It will not. The Government now talk about taking land without proper due consideration. That has led many farmers in my constituency to ask, “Why does this Labour Government hate farmers so much?” Why do they want to hurt our farmers so much?

[Noah Law]

What does the hon. Member think that the largest farming budget in recent years will do if not make farming more profitable?

[Dr Johnson]

I do not support the hon. Gentleman’s figures or think the Government will make farming more profitable. It is the classic socialist trick of saying, “We’ll give you some money here, and we’ll take some money there.” We have seen it with hospices and the NHS, and we see it with farming as well. They are taking money away in taxes left, right and centre, then giving a few pence over there and saying, “Be grateful, why don’t you?” I am afraid that it does not wash with farmers. Farmers are clever people, and they can see straight through it.

The effects of the Government’s policy will be reduced food security, the collapse of small businesses and the purchase of that land by larger corporations, and an increase in food prices for consumers rich and poor across the country. This is a debate on the future of farming. Many farmers in my constituency feel that, thanks to this Labour Government, they have no future in farming.