Following recent media speculation on the future of farming policy in England, we know that you may have some questions about our work. We’ve published a post on Defra's media blog which sets out our response and position.
More than 4,000 people from across the farming community in England are now working with us to design, pilot, test and trial new farming policies and schemes. In this post, we’ll explain how we’re working with the farming community. We'll also share the 7 co-design principles we’re encouraging groups to follow.
We recently published a blog post about the things we learned at this summer’s agricultural shows which took place up and down the country. At most of those shows, we ran co-design taster sessions for members of the farming community, so they could get a sense, first-hand, of how they could shape our policies. In this post, we're going to talk about some other things we learned that directly relate to co-design.
Some of our colleagues are also farmers. In this post, Ben Keene and Brian Longman introduce the Defra Farmer's Forum, the group which brings them together. They also share their stories. In the months that follow, we’ll hear from more farmers who either work in the Future Farming and Countryside Programme or support our work from their teams elsewhere in Defra.
Farm visits are an opportunity for farmers to tell us about the issues they are facing and to make clear the realities of farming. Due to COVID-19, physical farm visits stopped. The experience was too valuable to abandon, so we created virtual farm visits instead. Michael Sturla shares more.
Today the government publishes the Agricultural Transition Plan (ATP). It represents the biggest shift in farm policy for 50 years.
Come and talk to us at these agricultural shows in 2024.
