'Farming confidence at all-time low' Rachel Reeves faces mounting pressure to DOUBLE agriculture budget in upcoming spending review

On June 11, the Chancellor will deliver her first multi-year spending review settlement, and the first from a Labour Government since the 2000s.

Deputy President of the Union, David Exwood, raised serious concerns about the UK's food security, calling for greater Government support for British farmers.

Exwood explained: "We are saying really clearly and loudly to the Government, if you want to achieve everything you want to achieve for the environment, like Protected Landscape, improvements, in water, biodiversity, all those things, we think that's what it will cost."

He noted that the current allocation of approximately £2.5billion per year falls significantly short of what is needed to ensure food security in Britain.

The union member said: "We want to deliver those things, but look, there's nothing more important than delivering for food and the environment.

"And we want the Government to back it even in times where the Government's finances, the country's finances, are challenged."

The NFU's position is that if the Government is unwilling to provide adequate funding, it should reconsider its environmental targets, with Exwood emphasising that farmers need financial support to meet the Government's environmental goals while maintaining food production.

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Exwood said: "If they don't back it, well, what environmental targets are you going to remove then? And how will you lower ambition if you're not going to back the ambition you've set?"

Speaking about the challenges facing the agricultural sector, Exwood, who has served as NFU Deputy President since 2024, emphasised the critical role of farming in the national economy.

He said: "Food and farming is the biggest sector in the UK economy. And farming is the kind of workshop that provides the ingredients for the basis of our food system in the UK."

Exwood, who runs a mixed arable and beef farm in Sussex and represents approximately 45,000 NFU members across the country, highlighted that farmers are "at the heart of rural communities" throughout Britain and are responsible for managing 70 per cent of the UK's land area.

He explained: "We look after the countryside. So we create the world that many people live in, exercise in, and enjoy."

The NFU deputy has identified the balance between food production and environmental concerns as one of the most pressing challenges for British agriculture.

Calling for a more balanced approach from the Government, Exwood stated: "We have legislated environmental targets in this country. That's fine, but we have nothing on the food side. So it always feels like food is losing out.

"It really needs that joined-up plan right across Government that will actually bring food production forward and keep farmers doing what they do, which is growing the food that this country relies on, as well as providing a brilliant environment and countryside for us all to live in."

Exwood explained that farmers face a significant challenge in that consumers pay only for the food itself, not for the associated environmental benefits that come with sustainable farming practices.

He noted: "When they're paying for their food, it is just for the value of the food that they buy, so a ton of wheat or a litre of milk, but all the other things that go with that food production often aren't priced in."

This disconnect between food prices and environmental services has led the NFU to advocate for greater public investment in the agricultural sector.

Exwood expressed significant disappointment with the Labour Government's first year in office, which has caused "frustration and anger the like of which we have really seen", particularly regarding inheritance tax changes that have directly impacted farmers.

He also pointed to other issues, including the current unavailability of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which forms the foundation of Government payment schemes for farmers.

Exwood added: "I think it's been a difficult and clumsy, if I could put it that way, first year of the Labour Government regarding their relationship with farming, and farmers have lost all trust in the government, and they've got a real job to bring it back."

He warned that farming confidence has reached "unprecedented lows" since the election last July, and emphasised that without rebuilding trust, farmers will continue to leave the industry.

In addition, Exwood drew parallels between the Government's recent U-turn on Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners and the need for similar reconsideration of inheritance tax policies affecting farmers, saying: "If they can do it for Winter Fuel, they can definitely do it on inheritance tax for farmers. It's quite easy to do."

He added: "They've said for nine months now they weren't going to move on with the fuel payments, and they have.

"And what we would want is the same recognition that inheritance tax and making changes to the legislation is just as important to the farming and rural community as it is to wind fuel payments is to the wider country."

He emphasised that the "deeply unfair" inheritance tax changes are particularly harmful to older farmers who lack the time to adjust to the "disastrous" new measures.

The NFU deputy president's comments reflect growing pressure on the Government to reconsider its approach to agricultural taxation at a critical time for the farming sector, with the union believing that without adequate funding for the agricultural sector, the UK faces a concerning decline in food security.

He said: "Ultimately, what we will see is dropping food security in this country. And at a time where, you know, who knows what Russia is going to do next? Is the world a secure and certain place? No, it isn't."

The Sussex farmer cautioned: "With uncertainty, farming is a long-term game, and we've seen huge political, financial, weather-related uncertainty, and unless we rebuild that, farmers will produce less food."

"Some prices are higher at the moment, but farmers are not responding with increased production because of this uncertainty. That's something we haven't seen for a very long time, and that shows you the challenge out there."

Exwood concluded that allowing food security to decline in the current global climate represents "a real missed opportunity from the Government."

Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins told GB News that the Labour Government's agricultural policies pose a serious threat to the UK's food security and expressed deep concern about the impact of several Government measures on British farmers.

She said: "All of these measures are making what is already a tough industry even tougher and for some just not survivable."