GB Potatoes Contributes to the Farm Profitability Review

In April 2025, former NFU President, Baroness Minette Batters, was appointed by Defra Secretary Steve Reed to lead a six-month review into farming profitability in England.  The aim of the review is to find practical solutions to improve margins across all farming sectors and forms a key part of Defra’s wider Farming Roadmap, which is focused on building a more resilient, sustainable, and profitable food system.

Recognising the strategic importance of this work, GB Potatoes submitted a detailed response on behalf of the potato sector.  Our submission reflects views from across the supply chain from growers, packers, processors, and exporters and sets outs challenges we face alongside practical, deliverable solutions to address them.

We welcomed the opportunity to contribute to a process that rightly places farm profitability at the heart of future agricultural policy.  Many of the issues we have highlighted align closely with the ambitions of the Farming Roadmap: boosting productivity, enhancing environmental outcomes, strengthening supply chain resilience, and supporting export growth.

Issues Highlighted by GB Potatoes:

1. Losing Access to Vital Crop Protection Products

The loss of crop protection products, coupled with the slow approval of alternatives, is undermining crop yields, quality, and overall crop resilience.  We called for a fast-track, GB-specific authorisation pathway, especially for emergency and biological products and a risk based regulatory approach that recognises the strategic importance of certain products.

• Uncertainty Around Trade – Especially for Seed Potatoes

Despite political progress, regulatory delays and unclear timelines are still undermining confidence in our seed and ware export markets.  We urged the government to accelerate legal implementation and offer transitional support to rebuild trade relationships, especially with the EU.

• Planning System Burdens

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements are making essential on-farm and supply chain developments unnecessarily complex and expensive  despite farming being a key deliverer of biodiversity outcomes.  Our response proposed targeted exemptions for agricultural infrastructure such as reservoirs and packing facilities.

• Barriers to Accessing Water

We highlighted the urgent need to simplify winter abstraction licensing and planning for on-farm water storage, which is essential for climate resilience and food security.

• Workforce and Skills Shortages

We proposed ways to tackle perceptions of farming as low-skilled and unattractive by improving career pathways, boosting training, and encouraging uptake of new technologies that improve both job quality and productivity.

• Low Investment is Stalling Productivity Growth

With capital investment support in the UK falling behind our European counterparts, we called for new tax incentives and more accessible grant schemes to help businesses modernise and grow.

• Fragmented Export Promotion

While the Defra agri-food attaché network is a welcome development, there is limited coordination with devolved governments and industry.  We recommended aligning UK-wide efforts to maximise export potential and reduce duplication.

• Lack of Timely, Transparent Data

The potato sector lacks reliable, up-to-date planting data—making it difficult to plan, price, or respond to market conditions.  We proposed introducing mandatory reporting, supported by digital tools, to provide early signals on crop trends.

Looking Ahead

We thank Baroness Batters for the opportunity to contribute and for her recognition that that profitable farming businesses are essential not just for the sector, but for delivering wider environmental and public policy goals.

GB Potatoes remains committed to working with government, industry partners, and the wider supply chain to ensure our sector remains competitive, sustainable, and resilient in the years ahead.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in our submission or share your own insights, please do not hesitate to get in touch.