Burnham warns Government has ‘long way to go’ to win farmers’ trust

Andy Burnham said the UK needs to “guarantee our own food production going forward” as farmers face one of their toughest summers in decades.

His comments came as the Government announced a £65 million support package for farmers, including extra funding for environmental schemes and new on-farm reservoirs.

Farmers across the country have been hit by prolonged hot, dry weather and a lack of rainfall, with many crops being harvested early while others have suffered lower yields and poorer quality.

The UK experienced its driest July on record, adding to concerns that reduced harvests could eventually push up food prices in supermarkets.

Burnham visited a family-run potato farm near Truro, Cornwall, where he met National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw and saw the impact of drought conditions first-hand.

Speaking to broadcasters, Burnham said: “I realise we’ve got a long way to go to build back trust with the farming community across the country.”

He added: “I think it’s probably been the hardest summer for British farming in a generation.”

The Prime Minister said food and farming should be treated as a matter of national resilience.

“I see food and farming as part of national resilience, national infrastructure,” he said.

“We need to be able to guarantee our own food production going forward.”

£65m farming support package

The Government said the £65 million package will help farmers dealing with the immediate impact of the drought while also improving resilience against future dry summers.

Of the funding:

• £50 million will be added to this year’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pot.
• £15 million will support farmers building on-farm reservoirs.

The measures are designed to help farmers get water to crops, feed livestock where grass has failed and continue environmental work without being left financially worse off.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham sees potatoes being sorted during a visit to F G Pryor & Son Ltd, Colwyn Farm near Truro, Cornwall. (Image: James Manning)

Farmers will also be given more flexibility within environmental schemes.

Where grass is scarce, farmers who normally cannot graze or cut certain areas being managed for wildlife will be allowed to use them without losing their payments.

Burnham said: “With the parched nature of the fields, it’s really important that they can use all of the available land to graze cattle and livestock and sheep.”

He described the package as “new money coming from Defra budgets” and said it was intended as a “sign of intent” for the farming industry.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw welcomes the government’s drought package announced today, which includes £65m of investment into the SFI and water infrastructure.

This is an important step to help some farmers better manage the severe pressures they are battling caused by sustained… pic.twitter.com/w5EojbP7Gr

— National Farmers’ Union (@NFUtweets) August 14, 2026

Farmers warn crisis is happening now

However, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the measures were a “really welcome start”, while warning that they would not solve the immediate crisis facing farmers.

He said: “It doesn’t affect the crisis today.”

“Many farms are absolutely on edge because of a disastrous harvest,” Bradshaw added.

“Fields that should be green are now brown. They’re feeding their winter rations out in the field now, and they’re also exposed to disease.”

He said the environmental funding could help improve resilience in the longer term, but added: “It doesn’t help today.”

Bradshaw described the current conditions as “probably the most extreme challenge that many have ever faced within their farms”, with farmers dealing with what he called the worst drought in 50 years.

“We have to work together with the government to try to make sure that all of those farms are still in business in 12 months’ time, so that then we can plan strategically for the future,” he said.

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The Government has faced months of anger from farmers, including major protests over plans to introduce inheritance tax on agricultural and business assets.

The proposed threshold was later increased to £2.5 million in a pre-Christmas U-turn.

Now, with extreme weather adding another major challenge for the sector, the Government faces renewed pressure to rebuild its relationship with farmers.