Future of Farming

Find out more about the Future of Farming report

An inquiry report has been launched into the future of farming in Northumberland as part of the Council’s ambitious plans to drive the county towards carbon neutrality by 2030. 
 
The Future of Farming report puts Northumberland in the driving seat of the agricultural transition. 

It explores the challenges of moving towards low-carbon manufacturing, sustaining food production, large-scale tree planting and peat restoration, supporting farming businesses to survive and thrive as well as balancing the future interests of estate landowners and tenant farmers. 
 
A series of eight discussions have been ongoing since Spring 2022 which have resulted in 12 recommendations being made.  These include closer collaborative working, better access to training, improved digital connectivity and championing the "Made in Northumberland" brand.  
 
An independent panel has been made up of experts from the rural and farming industry in Northumberland including representatives from the Northumberland National Park Authority, National Farmers' Union, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the Farming and Countryside Commission.  

The inquiry was set up in response to the government’s Agricultural Transition Plan published in 2020 which is part of its overall commitment to halve greenhouse gas emissions at net zero in the UK by 2050.

Read the media release here (7 December 2022).

Download a pdf of the report here (1MB, opens in a new window), or read the Foreword, Context, Recommendations and Conclusion sections below.  

The report was considered at the Council's Cabinet meeting on the 14th February 2023.  You can read the paper here.  Appendix 2 (page 9 onwards) details the initial response of the Council to the recommendations of the inquiry.  A link to the council paper (opens in a new window).

A message from Professor Sally Shortall Duke of Northumberland Chair of Rural Economy, Newcastle University.

In March 2022, I was asked by Northumberland County Council to conduct an Inquiry into the futureof Farming in Northumberland. 

Its purpose was to better understand the challenges and opportunities faced by the range of farmers and landowners in Northumberland in moving from the current regime of subsidy funding to the new benefits system for environmental land management. The Inquiry would make recommendations to the County Council about the tangible action it could take to promote the interests of farmers and landowners across the county to successfully make this transition while maintaining profitable businesses.

I was supported in this task by an independent panel of experts who collectively provided a range of local and national perspectives of the farming sector. In addition, each of our Inquiry sessions was informed by  contributions from three or four individuals.
 

Page 6 of the report.

It is a time of unprecedented change for agriculture in England following the UK’s exit from the European Union and the associated Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
 
The Agriculture Act 2020 provides the legislative framework for replacement agricultural support schemes. It provides a range of powers to implement new approaches to farm payments and land management. In England, farmers will be paid to produce ‘public goods’ such as environmental or animal welfare improvements.
 
The Act also includes wider measures, including improving fairness in the agricultural supply chain and on the operation of agricultural markets. The principles of how this legislation framework will be applied has subsequently been set out by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in its Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024. However, a lot of uncertainty remains as to the progressive roll-out of the various elements of the Environmental Land Management (ELM) Scheme and its anticipated impacts – both positive and negative – on different types of farm operation. In tandem with this, the current Basic Payments Scheme is being phased out.
 
The recent publication of the National Food Strategy in response to the independent review of the food system by Henry Dimbleby last year, also sets out a suite of policy initiatives to improve health, sustainability, accessibility of diet to secure food supply, while also recognising the shared global challenges of the war in Ukraine and the impact of the pandemic on the global economy.

Farmers and landowners are having to navigate this complex policy landscape to make challenging short-term decisions to maintain their survival until such time as the fuller implications of the transition to the new system become clearer and they are better placed to plan for their long-term future.
 
Within this national context, the pressure on the future of farming in Northumberland is particularly acute. Three quarters of the farm holdings in the county currently receive and rely on some form of subsidy to supplement their income. This is the highest proportion of any county in the country and largely relates to the fact that upland farming, which predominates in Northumberland, is more marginal economically.
 
Another unique characteristic of the local farming economy is the extent to which land management is undertaken on a tenancy basis. Half of the county’s farms are operated by tenants, who obviously have the added complication of being governed by tenancy agreements in making decisions about their holding’s operation, particularly where there are medium to long term implications of those decisions.
 
Agriculture is a dynamic and innovative industry. It incorporates producers, food production, retailers, local, national and international markets and offers exciting opportunities for people who wish to pursue careers in this occupation.

Extracts from the report - Theme 1: "Navigating the changing policy landscape"

The Inquiry recommends that the County Council:

1. Invites the Secretary of State for the Environment to a conference in Northumberland, where the local farming sector can present their views on the plans for agricultural transition and showcase the potential for Northumberland to act as a place-based exemplar.
2. Considers accelerating the preparation of a Land Use Framework for Northumberland to inform the equivalent approach the Government have committed to undertake for England in 2023.

Extracts from the report - Theme 2: "Supporting farmers through the agricultural transition"

The Inquiry recommends that the County Council:

1. Working collaboratively with the National Park, maps and promotes the existing network of farmer groups/clusters within the county and progressively seeks to address the gaps in coverage to establish a coherent network for farmer engagement and collaboration.
2. Commissions a survey of Northumberland farm businesses to identify the specific information, tools and support required to facilitate the agricultural transition, with the feedback generated being used, in collaboration with the NFU, TFA and CLA.  To inform the further signposting to existing online resources and examples of best practice to access funding, provide peer support, diversify farms and achieve change.
3. Commission the provision of short online training modules as appropriate to further equip farm businesses with the confidence and capability to undertake continued and expanded farm diversification.
4. Reviews the process of assessing planning applications for farm diversification initiatives.
5. Continues to work with the Shared Rural Network to ensure that all farms in the county are connected to 4G technology. Seeks clarity from the Northern Powergrid about the number of farm businesses not connected to the national grid and the current strategy to address these gaps and uses this information to secure additional investment from the Government as part of rural levelling up to address the problem.

Recommendations from the report - Theme 3: "Maximising the benefits from locally produced food"

The Inquiry recommends that the County Council:

1. Coordinates the development and delivery of a Northumberland Food Strategy; that will build on the existing “Produced in Northumberland” brand, and champion the value of local produce to further economic growth and reducing ill-health and inequality.
2. Commissions a technical feasibility study on improving the local processing infrastructure to: a) Help define the optimal way to process local meat products, b) Reduce road miles travelled by produce and c) Expand specialist butchery provision within the county.

Recommendations from the report - Theme 4: "Promoting farming as a career"

The Inquiry recommends that the County Council:

1. Collaborates with the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA) and Country Land and Business Association (CLA) to develop and champion a suite of case studies of individual farmers and landowners to showcase the contribution they make to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Northumberland.
2. Encourages a larger local landowner, either an estate, the Ministry of Defence or the National Trust, to bid for a pilot from Defra’s New Entrant Scheme as a platform from which a wider campaign showcasing the attraction of working in the farming sector could be built.

Recommendations from the report - Theme 5: "Balancing the respective interests of landowners and tenants"

The Inquiry recommends that the County Council:

1. Affirms to Defra its commitment to work with local landowners and tenants to pioneer any changes made as a result of the Government’s response to the Rock Review.
2. Recognising the importance of the tenanted farming sector in Northumberland (and the growing insecurity faced by many tenants), that the County Council affirms its commitment to work with tenants and local landowners to pioneer any changes made as a result of the Government's response of the Rock Review, which stated that tenants must be given full, independent access to all Government schemes and incentives if the sector is to thrive.

From page 16 of the report.

The Inquiry commends the Council for inviting guidance and advice on how to create a future of farming in the county that is sustainable and profitable.
 
Members of the Inquiry have given their time, in good faith, so that this advice will be considered by the Council.
 
We invite the Council to provide a written response to our recommendations, detailing whether they endorse the recommendations or not, and where they do, how they will be actioned and within what timeframe.
 
The Inquiry offers to reconvene once a year for the next three years to review progress to date and to offer ongoing advice on how to best progress the industry.