Defra plans for 9% farmland reduction

• Consultation on land use framework

• Most productive land to be retained

• Changes will help meet green targets

Government plans could see a 9% reduction in the amount of England’s farmland used to produce food, suggests a Defra consultation.

Proposals for a national land use framework would see land taken out of food production and used instead to grow trees or to create wildlife. Defra says the change is needed to meet net zero targets.

More efficient farming would ensure food production would remain at current levels, says the government. The most productive farmland would be retained, boosting food security in a time of global uncertainty and a changing climate.   

Consultation

Farmers, landowners and other stakeholders have until 25 April to respond to a “national conversation” on the plan – launched by Defra secretary Steve Reed at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

The consultation was the start of a national conversation to transform land use, said Mr Reed. That meant enabling the protection of prime agricultural land, restoring the natural world and driving economic growth.

“This framework will not tell people what to do,” he said. “It is about working together.”

Pooling knowledge and resources would enable local and national government, landowners, businesses, farmers and nature groups to take informed actions that were “best for them, best for the land, and best for the country”.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the framework must have food production at its heart. The UK was a “small island nation” with huge demands on land including biodiversity net gain, leisure activities and critical national infrastructure.

“We must have a land use plan in place, underpinned by sound science and evidence, that has British food at its heart and ensures we make the best use of our most productive agricultural land.”

Country Land and Business Association president Victoria Vyvyan said: “Whenever the state gets involved, its tendency is to only become ever more prescriptive. Initially, the framework might be light touch, but tomorrow it won’t be.

“The government must build safeguards into the policy to prevent mission creep, or else it is entirely possible that in years to come, the man from the ministry will be telling farmers what they are and aren’t allowed to grow, plant and rear on their land.

“That will be unacceptable.”

‘Massively overdue’

Other businesses and organisations with farming interests have been responding to the consultation announcement. Roland Bull, head of rural investment at Bidwells, said: “These reforms are massively overdue.”

Mr Bull added: “For too long, the UK’s land use strategy has been short-sighted and driven by the wrong priorities that have undermined food security, energy needs, and environmental restoration.”

A new approach could finally bring some logic to the system, said Mr Bull. It could protect our best farmland while making space for housing, renewables, and nature where they make the most sense.

“The principle is clear: keep prime land for food, put solar and environmental projects on lower-value land, and build homes on the grey belt. But the real challenge isn’t knowing what should happen, it’s making it happen.

“Will this framework cut through bureaucracy and deliver real change, or get stuck in red tape? Execution will be the real test, done right, this could transform how we plan for the future.”

‘We are committed to food production’

Defra secretary Steve Reed (pictured) insists the government has a cast-iron commitment to maintain long-term food production – despite proposals to reduce farmland.

“The primary purpose of farming will always be to produce food that feeds the nation,” he says. “This framework will give decision makers the toolkit they need to protect our highest quality agricultural land.”

Future-proof

The government’s vision for land is one in which long-term food security is guaranteed framework which future-proofs farm businesses, supports new housebuilding and boosts energy infrastructure.

Mr Reed argues that the government can achieve this by farming more efficiently and reduce conflicts that hold up development by creating land with multiple benefits – supporting economic growth on the limited land available.       

He says the framework will help farm businesses to maximise the potential of multiple uses of land, supporting long-term food production capacity and unlocking opportunities for businesses to drive private finance into the sector.

“It will support the need to incentivise multi-functional land use that includes food production,” says Mr Reed.