Defra recognises that its vital farms have the workforce they need to harvest their great British produce and grow their businesses. We set out in the Farming Roadmap that to build clear skills pathways for a modern farming sector we are working across government, including Skills England, industry and with training providers, to strengthen professional routes into and through the sector, providing accessible pathways for people to enter, progress and build long term careers in agriculture that reflect the sector’s diverse and evolving needs.

We have just confirmed the 2027 Seasonal Worker visa allocations for the horticulture and poultry so businesses can plan the year ahead with confidence and are working on Sector Growth Plans for these sectors to explore how our growers can be more profitable, productive and grow whilst also working within key government policy parameters, including migration policy.

This Government is progressing negotiations on the UK-EU SPS Agreement alongside preparations for its ratification and implementation. Ratification and implementation will be completed once negotiations have concluded and the required UK and EU processes are conducted. Implementation will require passing the European Partnership Bill. Defra is preparing to ensure the benefits of the deal are realised as soon as possible.

The Government recognises the significant challenges that drought conditions can pose for farmers and growers. As part of the drought support package announced on 14 August 2026, up to £15 million has been made available to support on-farm reservoir construction.

The proposed level of funding has been informed by evaluation evidence from the previous two rounds of the Water Management Grant, where applications are expected to result in around £12.5 million of grant expenditure in total. Given the previous government were unable to spend the full budget allocated to the previous rounds of the Water Management Grant, we won’t repeat that failure and as such will continue to monitor delivery and demand to ensure the grant supports practical investments that strengthen water security and farm resilience to climate change.

For farms businesses and agricultural products Defra is developing a standardised approach to carbon reporting. The work aims to establish robust methodologies and criteria for high-quality farm carbon assessments. It will improve the consistency and reliability of emissions data, enabling transparent and comparable greenhouse gas reporting for the agri-food system.

For UK territorial emissions Defra operates a world leading agricultural emissions accounting system, compliant with requirements set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. National emissions estimates are verified with real world measurements and modelled using science-based methodologies which are independently reviewed and publicly available.

The Government has made temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, giving farmers flexibility and making it easier for farm business cash flow as they deal with growing food in this summer’s extreme conditions.

Adjustments will enable farmers to create firebreaks on land in an agreement to protect houses, animals and crops from wildfires.

To ease shortages of animal feed and bedding, the government has acted by removing restrictions so farmers can cut and graze land in an ELM agreement.

The Government has also given farmers more time to establish ELM actions where dry conditions have made planting impossible.

GOV.UK guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hot-and-dry-weather-temporary-support-for-farmers-in-2026) went live on Saturday 15 August and measures came into force on the same day.

The Health and Safety Executive is currently reassessing glyphosate to determine whether it continues to meet strict approval criteria.

Defra is working through the implications of the transition from the current pesticides regulatory system in Great Britain to a new one defined by the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement under negotiation. The department cannot comment further on the SPS agreement as negotiations are ongoing.

The additional £50m announced by the Prime Minister last month as part of the dry weather package will be included in Window 2 of SFI26, thereby increasing the Window 2 budget to £230m (in addition to any remaining Window 1 budget).

Window 2 is expected to open on Tuesday 22 September 2026 for all farmers and land managers. It will be open to all farmers and land managers with at least 3 hectares of agricultural land.

The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. On 16 June 2025, following the 2025 Spending Review, Defra set out indicative funding figures (https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/16/spending-review-2025-a-commitment-to-farming/ ) for the 2026-27 to 2028-29 financial years, including plans to increase the amount of money paid to farmers under Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes from £800m in 2023/24 towards £2bn by 2028/29.

We have also recently published our Annual Report for 2025/26, which sets out that we spent £1.8bn on ELM schemes. This includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive, CS Higher Tier and ELM Capital.

The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory accounts for greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration from managed land through the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector, alongside the agriculture sector. Together, these form the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) component of national greenhouse gas reporting.

The Government's environmental land management schemes have been developed to support delivery of the ambitious goals set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan, with farmers and land managers playing a critical role in achieving these outcomes.

To support the continued delivery of Environmental Land Management agreements, including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, Defra has introduced temporary adjustments that provide additional flexibility to support the delivery of CSHT. Agreement holders using these temporary measures must continue to meet all other scheme and legal requirements and return to the original requirements once conditions allow.

We do not expect recent changes to farm support schemes to reduce participation in Countryside Stewardship agreements.

Supporting British farmers and boosting the nation’s food security are key priorities for the government. As set out in the Farming Roadmap, food security and restoring nature are not competing aims. They are, over the long term, inseparable. The most resilient farms are profitable precisely because they work with the environment, which is why Government is backing a shift towards lower input, more sustainable farming systems.

There are now 4,165 live SFI agreements and 658 live CS agreements within the West Dorset constituency. This uptake by farm businesses and land managers in the constituency is supporting them to build nature‑friendly farming systems that can sustain or enhance production while strengthening resilience and reducing input dependency.

Agriculture is devolved. Defra administers farming policy in England, while the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive determine their own agricultural policies and support schemes. As part of this arrangement, funding for agriculture and fisheries was baselined and un-ringfenced in each devolved governments block grant from 2024-25. It is for devolved governments to allocate funding as they see fit and they are accountable to their devolved legislatures for those decisions. The devolved governments’ settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.

The UK government is acting in England to support farmers and give them clarity to plan and invest. The recently published Farming Roadmap and Farming Profitability Review response set out a range of short-term and long-term actions. These include investment in ELM funding, support for and investment in innovation and technology, and action to make supply chains fairer. The government has also established the Farming and Food Partnership Board, bringing together senior leaders from farming, food, retail and finance to drive profitability and strengthen food security. Defra continues to cooperate openly and transparently with devolved government colleagues on these frameworks – as well as ongoing policy development across the four nations - via informal and formal structures established under the Common Framework for Agricultural Support.

Defra recognises the importance of the workforce to food security. The Government’s Good Food Cycle publication references the importance of attracting talent and developing a skilled workforce to our nation and food security. The Farming Roadmap also makes clear the link between a strong, skilled and confident workforce in driving rural economic growth and strengthening Britain’s food security, whilst also committing to the Seasonal Worker visa route for the horticulture and poultry sectors until at least 2030. Addressing workforce recruitment and retention will be central to the Sector Growth Plans we have underway with sector experts.

No decisions have been made on the scope of FETF inclusion in Capital Grants from 2027, we are still considering future support arrangements and will set out further details in due course.

The Government recognises the significant challenges that drought conditions can pose for farmers and growers. As part of the drought support package announced on 14 August 2026, up to £15 million has been made available to support on-farm reservoir construction.

FETF 2026 was the final round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in its current form; Defra is reviewing our wider grants offers to ensure they deliver the greatest benefit for farmers, food production and the environment. Decisions on the design and scope of any future offers have not yet been made.

Defra will continue to engage with farmers and industry stakeholders as we develop its future programme.

The Government is taking forward a range of measures to strengthen agricultural water resilience to droughts and heatwaves.

Defra has recently announced that it is opening a round of Water Management Grants, with up to £15m available to help farmers build on-farm reservoirs to improve water security. In addition, Defra is making it easier to build reservoirs, by updating planning guidance.

Defra also reminded farmers that they can apply to the Environment Agency for temporary abstraction flexibility, known as Local Enforcement Positions, where environmental impacts can be appropriately managed.

As we set out in the Farming Roadmap, the Future Rural Payments Service (FRPS) is working towards a modern and efficient service that simplifies and streamlines the grant application process and reduces the demand on farmer’s time for administration.

The service is in early development, but opportunities in scope of the work are exploring better data integration in the service, improvements to the accuracy of land data and better transparency for payments and the potential for targeting activity to focus on local priorities and deliver the best impact for investment.

Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives of the farming sector, to discuss a range of issues.

The Government is taking action to make it easier to build reservoirs. This includes reducing unnecessary barriers, updating planning guidance, and funding up to £15 million to build on-farm reservoirs, helping farmers store water and become more resilient to future droughts.

The Government continues to provide very significant relief from inheritance tax for agricultural and business assets. A couple are able to pass on up to £5 million of such assets tax-free between them, on top of the existing allowances such as the nil-rate band.

The government does not agree compensation for individual landowners or businesses affected by the proposed Norwich to Tilbury project. This is a matter for the transmission owner, National Grid, and the landowners or businesses concerned. Where acquisition of land rights are required, whether by voluntary agreement or through compulsory purchase powers granted in a Development Consent Order, the requirements for compensation of affected parties are set out in relevant legislation.

Availability of digital connectivity underpins the UK’s digital capabilities, including the ability of rural communities to benefit from deployment of agricultural robotics. This is why we are futureproofing the UK’s networks, with a target to deliver gigabit broadband coverage to 99% of premises by 2032 and an ambition for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G coverage by 2030.

Ofcom reports that as of January 2026, 69% of rural premises in Buckinghamshire local authority have access to a gigabit-capable connection and standalone 5G is available across 98% of the rural landmass from at least one mobile network operator.

Through the 5G Innovation Regions programme, the Government has funded projects across the UK to demonstrate how a range of connectivity solutions can support modern farming practices and the use of agricultural technologies such as drones, robotics, cameras and sensors.