皇冠体育app

Former NFU President and farmer, Baroness Minette Batters has been appointed to lead a review of farm profitability.聽聽

皇冠体育app new appointment by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed will see Baroness Batters providing recommendations on farm profitability both to him and the Farming Minister.聽聽

Listening to farmers and growers will be at the heart of Baroness Batters鈥� work, covering all land areas and sectors of the industry, as well as engaging with other government departments whose work impacts farmers.聽

She will provide short, medium and long term recommendations and propose actions for government and industry that will support farming profitability as part of this government鈥檚 New Deal for Farmers.聽聽

This work will be supported by the newly formed Profitability Unit within Defra.聽聽

Baroness Batters鈥� review will also help the development of the food strategy, farming roadmap and the Land Use Framework, and build on other work such as the review of Defra鈥檚 regulatory landscape led by Dan Corry.聽

Her aim is to help ensure our farming sector is more viable, self-sustaining and competitive in the long-term.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, said: 聽聽

Backing British farmers is the backbone of all work to support rural economic growth and boost Britain鈥檚 food security.聽聽

We have taken strong action to protect the future of the sector with the New Deal for Farmers. But we must go further and faster as part of our Plan for Change to put money into the pockets of farmers and drive growth.聽

That is why I am delighted to appoint Baroness Batters, and her years of experience as a leader during a time of great change in British agriculture make her uniquely placed to provide recommendations on tackling the deep-rooted problems holding the sector back and support farmers鈥� long-term profits.

Baroness Minette Batters said:聽聽

I will leave no stone unturned in trying to find solutions to boost farm profitability. But we should be under no illusions how difficult this work will be. 皇冠体育appre will not be one 鈥榮ilver bullet鈥� to fire but I鈥檓 hopeful this review can make a difference to a sector that produces the nation鈥檚 food, underpins the rural economy and delivers so much for the environment. 聽聽

I鈥檓 pleased to be appointed to lead this review and look forward to working with farmers and growers to provide recommendations to government, food retailers, processors and manufacturers.

皇冠体育app appointment is one of a number of actions that the government is taking to improve the profitability of farmers, including聽through fair competition in the supply chain, ensuring planning reforms make it quicker for farmers to build the buildings they need on their farms, and helping farmer diversify income streams and make additional money from selling surplus energy from solar panels and wind turbines by accelerating connections to the grid.聽

As set out in the Plan for Change, the government is focused on supporting our farmers, rural economic growth and boosting Britain鈥檚 food security and are going further to develop a 25-year farming roadmap to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.

Notes to editors

• Baroness Batters will begin her role on 7 April 2025.聽
• 皇冠体育app appointment will be for a period of six months with recommendations provided to the Secretary of State within that timeline.
• 皇冠体育app full Terms of Reference for the review are available on gov.uk.

About Baroness Minette Batters

Baroness Batters joined the NFU when she started farming, and rose to be county chair and a member of several NFU committees.聽 As the first woman president of NFU, Minette has been a positive force within the agricultural industry. She served as President of the National Farmers Union from 2018 to 2024, having previously served as Deputy President from 2014 to 2018.聽聽

In her role as deputy president and then president, Batters has represented the farming community at a time of great change, during the agricultural transition. Batters has supported orderly change and maintenance of high standards in UK agriculture.聽

She was appointed as a crossbench member of the House of Lords in 2024 and was made a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 2021.

She was brought up on a tenanted farm in Wiltshire and now runs the tenanted family farm in Wiltshire, a mixed farming business including a 100-cow continental cross suckler herd, as well as sheep and arable. Diversification on the farm includes the conversion of a 17th Century barn into a wedding and events venue, and horse liveries.