Defra has published Farming Roadmap 2050: Growing England’s Future, setting out the government’s long-term direction for English farming through to 2050. It brings together a wide range of existing and emerging government strategies and draws out the elements most relevant to farming, food production, environmental delivery and rural resilience.
At its heart, the roadmap is an attempt to provide the sector with greater clarity after several years of change and uncertainty. It recognises that farming is central to national food security, the rural economy and the condition of the natural environment, with farmers managing around 70% of England’s land and underpinning a major agri-food sector worth £153bn and recognised as Critical National Infrastructure.
The roadmap is structured around three broad themes: profitable and productive farm businesses; sustainable farming and environmental delivery; and building resilience in the face of climate change, volatile markets and global uncertainty. It is a comprehensive and wide-ranging publication, and we have tried to pick out a few key areas we felt most relevant.
Profitability, productivity and confidence
A strong theme running through the roadmap is the need to support profitable farm businesses. This includes action on skills, innovation, collaboration, supply chains and fairer recognition of the value that farming brings to the wider economy. The government has committed to sector growth plans, starting with horticulture and poultry, and to further investment in the Farming Innovation Programme, including work on robotics, soil health and water management.
There is also a clear emphasis on collaboration. The proposed Farmer Collaboration Fund and support for co-operative models are intended to help farmers share risk, reduce costs, strengthen their position in supply chains and invest collectively in new approaches.
Environmental Land Management and future support
The roadmap confirms continued support for Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery. Defra sets out an intention to grow ELM funding over the coming years, while also making schemes more focused and better targeted.
One of the more significant points for farmers and advisers is the suggestion that some actions currently supported through schemes may, over time, become part of regulation or standard practice and not supported through ELMs. “Mitigation” actions such as buffer strips may form part of farming regulation and “conversion” payments that support farming practices such as cover crops or companion cropping are expected to become supply-chain requirements or best practice no longer requiring public funding. Payments for mitigation or conversion actions may reduce as these practices become expected, while longer-term public support is expected to continue for public goods such as habitat creation and management.
It will need careful handling. For many farm businesses, the transition from voluntary incentives to regulatory requirements could feel challenging, particularly where changes involve capital investment, loss of productive area or new management costs. Advice-led regulation, practical support and a realistic transition period will be essential.
Soils, water and nature recovery
Healthy soils, clean water and functioning ecosystems are presented as foundations for long-term food production. The roadmap places emphasis on sustainable soil management, reducing nutrient and sediment pollution, improving water resilience, restoring habitats and using nature-based solutions to reduce flood and drought risk.
This is an area where farming and environmental outcomes are closely linked. The roadmap recognises that productivity and environmental recovery cannot be treated as separate agendas. More resilient farming systems will depend on better soil structure, healthier watercourses, more connected habitats and reduced reliance on costly inputs.
Tenants, uplands and diverse farming systems
The roadmap acknowledges that there is no single model for future farming. It includes commitments to support the tenanted sector, improve fair access to schemes and help tenants develop long-term plans. It also recognises the importance of upland farming, with an emphasis on collaboration, farmer networks and shared approaches to the future of these landscapes.
The commitment to an Organic Action Plan is also notable, recognising the role that organic and agroecological systems can play in reducing inputs, improving soil health and supporting biodiversity, while maintaining viable farm businesses.
Climate resilience and future risk
Climate change runs through the roadmap as a major driver of future policy. The document highlights the need to reduce emissions, plant more trees and woodland, restore peat, manage water supplies, prepare for extreme weather and support nature-based solutions that reduce flood risk and build farm resilience.
The direction is clear: farmers will be expected to produce food while also helping to meet climate, nature and water targets. This creates opportunities, but also significant pressure. Good advice, practical scheme design and local delivery will be vital if the roadmap is to work for real farm businesses rather than simply sit as a policy document.
A simpler relationship with Defra?
Defra also sets out an ambition to improve the way farmers interact with government, including a single digital farming account covering records, grants, compliance information and advice. If delivered well, this could help reduce administrative burdens and improve access to information. The test will be whether it makes things genuinely simpler for farmers and advisers on the ground.
Our reflection
The roadmap is helpful in bringing together a wide range of government strategies and drawing out the parts that matter most for farming and the environment. It gives a clearer sense of direction and recognises that farm profitability, food production, nature recovery and climate resilience are deeply connected.
It is also an ambitious roadmap. There is a great deal of action needed to realise it, and that action must be taken with the urgency that the sector, society and the environment now require. Farmers are already dealing with the impacts of volatile markets, changing weather patterns, rising costs and uncertainty in policy and supply chains. Looking ahead, the pressures of climate change, population needs and global instability will only make this more important.
The challenge now is delivery. The roadmap will need to be matched by practical solutions, timely guidance, trusted advice and a genuine partnership with farmers and land managers. Done well, it could help provide the confidence needed to invest in productive, resilient and nature-rich farming systems.For our members, the immediate message is to stay engaged. The direction of travel is towards better targeted public support, stronger expectations around environmental management, greater use of data and technology, and more emphasis on collaboration. FWAG SouthWest will continue to work with farmers, advisers and partners to help make sense of the changes and support delivery in ways that work for farm businesses and the landscapes they manage.
Key Defra milestones and actions from Section 2 of the roadmap
| Date or period | Action or commitment | Why it matters |
| March 2026 | Land Use Framework commitment to maintain overall food production in England. | Links land use change, nature recovery and climate action with continued domestic food production. |
| June 2026 | Open a simpler, fairer Sustainable Farming Incentive, initially for small farms between 3ha and 50ha and those without an existing ELM revenue agreement. | Provides an entry point into ELM for smaller farms and those not already in revenue agreements. |
| June 2026 | Launch funded Poultry Biosecurity Reviews. | Supports disease risk management and resilience in the poultry sector. |
| July 2026 | Open ELM capital grant applications. | Enables investment in practical environmental works and infrastructure on farms. |
| September 2026 | Open the second window of SFI. | Gives more businesses the opportunity to apply as the scheme develops. |
| November 2026 | Extend mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. | Broadens the role of development in contributing to nature recovery. |
| During 2026 | Continue the roll-out of improved Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. | Supports more targeted and complex environmental delivery, including habitat and landscape-scale work. |
| During 2026 | Sign successful Landscape Recovery projects into implementation and provide information about future rounds. | Moves large-scale land management projects from development into delivery and signals future opportunities. |
| During 2026 | Open a sector-wide national conversation on how food and farming can reduce emissions while growing productive, resilient businesses. | Begins wider discussion on the route to lower-emission farming without losing productive capacity. |
| 2026 to 2030 | Invest in local partnerships, water management infrastructure and wetter farming trials. | Supports water resilience, adaptation and new approaches in wetter landscapes. |
| 2026 to 2036 | Invest at least £300 million in Natural Flood Management through the floods investment programme. | Creates opportunities for land managers to contribute to flood resilience through nature-based solutions. |
| To at least 2030 | Continue the Seasonal Worker visa route, with 41,000 visas for the horticulture sector in 2026. | Provides labour certainty for parts of the sector that rely heavily on seasonal workers. |
| By 2028 | Bring at least 40% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management. | Marks an interim milestone for improving soil health and long-term farm resilience. |
| By 2030 | Bring 60% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management. | Sets a longer-term benchmark for mainstreaming sustainable soil management. |
| By December 2030 | Restore or create a total of 250,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites. | Supports nature recovery beyond designated sites and across farmed landscapes. |
| By December 2030 | Halt the decline in species abundance. | Represents a key national nature recovery target. |
| By December 2030 | Have actions on track to achieve favourable condition for 50% of SSSI features. | Focuses attention on improving the condition of protected sites. |
| By 2030 | Double the number of farms providing sufficient year-round resources for farm wildlife compared with 2025. | Encourages wider provision of habitat, food and shelter for wildlife across the farmed environment. |
| By December 2030 | Increase England’s tree canopy and woodland cover by 0.33% of land area from the 2022 baseline of 14.9%, equivalent to a net increase of 43,000 hectares. | Supports climate, biodiversity and landscape resilience. |
| By December 2030 | Reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture to the water environment by at least 12% compared with a 2018 baseline. | Targets agricultural diffuse pollution and water quality improvement. |
| By December 2030 | Reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture by at least 18% in catchments containing protected sites in unfavourable condition due to nutrient pollution. | Prioritises action where nutrient pollution is affecting protected sites. |