The TFA’s National Chair, Robert Martin, represented the TFA at the second Farm to Fork Summit hosted by the Prime Minister in Downing Street on Tuesday 14 May.  The TFA was one of more than 70 businesses and producers working and supporting the food and farming industry who attended the 2024 event.

The Government’s aim was to use the summit to look at ways to work with the industry to ensure an innovative and resilient farming and food sector realising its economic potential and recruiting the next generation of farming and food leaders.  The summit in particular, looked at recruiting and developing the workforce for the sector going forward including new entrants.

Commenting about this years Farm to Fork Summit, Robert Martin, said “it has taken many years for central Government to take real notice of food security issues, so the TFA welcomes the Prime Minister’s focus in hosting these summits. However, there is much to be done to deal with some of the market failures within the food system including the unfair and unbalanced treatment of primary producers within retail supply chains. The Groceries Code Adjudicator has been doing good work between retailers and direct suppliers but we need much more effort to regulate relationships between farmers and growers and processors. The new regulatory codes and sector champions will help but a broader remit for the Groceries Code Adjudicator would be better.”

During this year’s summit, the Government announced that following the recommendation from the Rock Review on agricultural tenancies, a new Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector (CTFS) will be established this autumn. This news comes after the publication, a few weeks ago, of a new Code of Practice for the landlord tenant sector, which can be read by clicking here. The TFA welcomes this news and that this code will now become the responsibility of the new CTFS.  We look forward to working with the Government over the weeks and months ahead to put some flesh on the bones of the announcement just made.

TFA National Chair, Robert Martin said “This decision highlights the importance of the landlord tenant system in agriculture to UK farming and to society as a whole. We look forward to the Commissioner being a tremendous force for good in helping to develop sustainable and collegiate landlord tenant relationships and ensuring that new Government policy and practice is properly tenant proved before it is launched. We are also interested in looking at how the Commissioner can assist with dispute resolution, reforming arbitration and feeding into necessary legislative and fiscal changes”.

At the summit, the Prime Minister also identified fresh produce as a key growth sector and priority for government. It has published a blueprint which sets out government’s ambitions to increase domestic fruit and vegetable production and grow the fresh produce sector. The blueprint showcases the initial steps government will take to deliver these aims, boosting UK food security.

• The first draft of the UK Annual Food Security Index, to allow the government, industry and farmers to monitor the impacts of external factors, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or extreme adverse weather events.
• The Blueprint sets out how Government will track UK-wide food security on an annual basis, monitoring domestic food production, land use, input costs and farmer productivity. This year’s index will show the UK farming sector is at its “most productive since records began” It highlighted that currently the UK produces the equivalent of 17% of the fruit and 55% of the vegetables that end up on British plates. This significantly lags behind meat, dairy and grains.
• A new Horticulture Resilience and Growth offer, which will replace the retained EU scheme, will be rolled out. Through this new scheme, the Government will look to double the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses compared to the current scheme, taking it to £80m per year.

Also announced during the event was:

• A £72m fund to the Endemics Diseases Scheme, which will help eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea in cattle, control porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in pigs and tackle a range of different health conditions in sheep.
• £22m infrastructure grant for laying hens to help poultry farmers to improve the health, welfare and productivity of their flocks.

To read the full package of measures announced by the Government to support farmers and grow the UK’s farming and food sector during the 2024 summit, click here.

Associated reading:

2024 priorities outlined by the EFRA Chair. To read, click here.