On 2 July 2026, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds spoke at the Groundswell Festival, announcing England’s first long‑term farming roadmap to 2050. The roadmap integrates environmental, land‑use, animal welfare and business resilience goals, emphasising nature‑friendly farming as a foundation for profitability. Reynolds highlighted new funding: £123 million for the Farming Innovation Programme and £50 million to expand the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, which will open to all farmers from summer 2026. She also revealed early access for farmers with expiring land‑management agreements to join the SFI26 soil‑health window and announced simplified, single‑focus agreements. The speech underlined that healthy soils boost water storage, biodiversity, and input efficiency, aiming to make farms more resilient and productive while enhancing the countryside.
© Crown copyright, 2024, GOV.UK.
Summary adapted from content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
For details, see https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.
Original source: https://www.gov.uk/
Made by AI. If you spot anything of concern write us at contact@cybach.com. We’ll promptly correct irregularities.