What did Steve Reed announce at the Oxford Farming Conference?

Defra secretary of state Steve Reed took to the stage on day two of the Oxford Farming Conference to share his “new deal for farmers”.

Farmers gathered outside the conference during Mr Reed’s talk to protest against the changes to inheritance tax relief.

Commenting on the new deal, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Many are worried about making it to the end of 2025, never mind what happens 25 years down the line.”

What is the new deal for farmers?

As part of the Plan for Change, Mr Reed announced a series of reforms at OFC:

• Procurement: Monitoring food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This will make it easier for British farmers to win a share of the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts, he said
• Planning: Ensuring planning reforms make it quicker for farmers to build the buildings, barns and other infrastructure they need on their farms to boost food production. A spring consultation on national planning reforms was announced
• Energy: Helping farmers make additional money from selling surplus energy from solar panels and wind turbines by accelerating connections to the grid and support them during difficult harvests and supply shocks
• Fair supply chain: New rules for the pig sector will come this spring, ensuring contracts clearly set out expectations and changes can only be made if agreed by all parties. This is already in place for the dairy sector, and similar regulations for eggs and fresh produce sectors will follow with the government ready to intervene with other sectors if needed.  
• Trade deals: The government will uphold and protect our high environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals, Mr Reed promised.  

Additionally, Mr Reed confirmed that the ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies) fund would launch this spring but did not confirm the value – £44m was promised previously.

The Defra secretary also did not commit to further FETF funding.

The government said it will work in partnership with food and farming sectors to deliver the change needed, and the 25-year farming roadmap will act as a blueprint. It’s set to be published later this year.

Reed “sorry” for IHT changes

Addressing farmers at the conference, Mr Reed acknowledged the impacts of the covid pandemic, Brexit, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as extreme flooding.

He said he recognised the anger farmers feel at the changes to inheritance tax and expressed regret over the policy – but reiterated the Labour government’s “shock” over the £22bn black hole in public spending when they took office.

He added: “I’m sorry that some of the actions we had to take have shocked you in return.”

Defending the government’s policy Mr Reed also stated his belief that the farming protests were not solely about the changes to inheritance tax, but have built up over years of increasing challenges.

A comment from Mr Reed that the majority of farms valued up to £3m will be able to claim full APR drew shouts of protest from the audience.

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Three steps to long-term food security

During his talk Mr Reed outlined the three aspects to his vision for long-term food security:

“We will work in partnership to achieve our vision for the farming sector. 

“First, a sector whose primary purpose is food production.      

“Secondly, a sector where farmers can access diverse income streams to make a fair profit and ensure their business remains viable in times of challenge.        

“And thirdly, a sector which supports farmers to restore nature – the foundations of sustainable food production.  

“It is only through pursuing all three that we will achieve long-term food security.” 

Other measures announced included secondary legislation unlocking precision breeding technology, additional funding to tackle flooding and a move away from the “patchwork” of regulations.

Mr Reed also promised a new vet agreement with the EU.

“Many farmers won’t make it to the new deal”

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said there are positive elements to the announcement but it “fundamentally fails to  recognise that the industry is in a cash flow crisis with the lowest farmer and grower confidence ever recorded”.

He added: “Devastating inheritance tax changes, national insurance hikes, crippling cuts to direct payments and delays to environmental schemes mean many businesses won’t survive to benefit from the ‘New Deal’.”

Whilst saying it’s positive that the government thinks farming should be more profitable and sustainable in the long-term, and that the primary role of farmers is to produce food, he added:

“But how is it going to ensure food production is profitable when thousands of farmers and growers are questioning whether they’ll still be in the industry in the next year?”

Mr Bradshaw noted that it was assumed that the loss of direct payments would be offset by a proper financial return from environmental schemes, significant improvements in productivity, and increased returns from fairer functioning markets. “This has not happened.” 

He added: “The government must now face up to the reality of the fierce policy headwinds and challenging market conditions the industry is facing into and act to secure the future of British farming.”

The first, urgent priority is to pause and consult on changes to agricultural and business property relief and review the delays and challenges to agri-environmental schemes, he said. 

“To have a genuine reset moment with farmers and growers after the inflationary budget, all of these issues need to be addressed.

“Only then can the government’s long-term vision be achievable.”

Significant backlash

The new government has faced significant backlash from the farming community since it announced agricultural property relief would be reduced to 50% for farms valued over £1m, from April 2026.

Over 265,000 people have signed an NFU petition calling for the tax to be overturned and protests have taken place in the major cities, as well as numerous other locations in the UK.

Over the festive period, farming families delivered letters written by children to the prime minister, and over 3,000 farmers lit beacons on New Year’s Eve in protest against the measures.

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