UK launches Farming and Food Partnership Board to steer farm growth
The UK government has launched the Farming and Food Partnership Board to put farm productivity and profitability at the center of decision-making across the food chain.
The UK government convened the first meeting of its new Farming and Food Partnership Board on Wednesday, March 25, presenting it as a reset in the way British agriculture is supported and coordinated. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds chaired the inaugural session and Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle was named deputy chair. Ministers said the board is meant to bring farming, food manufacturing and retail into one decision-making structure.
The initiative builds on Baroness Batters’ Farm Profitability Review and is explicitly framed around productivity and profitability on farms. According to the government, the new body is supposed to champion homegrown produce while strengthening supply chains across the food system. Participants in the first meeting included the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Agricultural Industries Confederation, British Retail Consortium, Food & Drink Federation, Institute of Grocery Distribution, National Farmers’ Union and UK Hospitality.
Officials said the board will sit alongside the Food Strategy Advisory Board and turn broader food-system objectives into sector-specific action. Early work will center on targeted Sector Growth Plans that are to be led by industry and co-designed with government. The stated priorities are to remove barriers to growth, unlock investment, accelerate technology uptake and improve returns at farm level.
Horticulture and poultry have been named as the first sectors to move into detailed planning. The government said work on the horticulture growth plan will begin immediately, with poultry to follow in the summer. It also left room for specialist subgroups that could bring together civil servants and industry experts to tackle specific bottlenecks affecting profitability.
The announcement also acknowledged immediate pressure from higher diesel and fertilizer costs linked to the Iran war. The government said the Environment Secretary had attended COBR meetings and that ministers had raised price-gouging concerns with the Competition and Markets Authority. In practice, the board is being positioned as a “farm to fork” mechanism that should connect policy, trade, supply chains and farm economics more directly than previous formats.