The Rural Update: Taking control of farming’s future
Your weekly dose of news, views and insight from Knight Frank on the world of farming, food and landownership
8 minutes to read
Viewpoint
In the James Bond film Spectre, a dying villain informs 007 that he’s like a “kite dancing in a hurricane”. The UK’s farmers and landowners may well feel the same. They’ve been told in no uncertain terms that their industry is a prime culprit for the UK’s carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. However, as discussed below, they feel marginalised by policymakers who fail to act on their own reports. And when they engage enthusiastically with nature-friendly farming initiatives like the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), applications are shut without any notice. Yet it is the government’s new planning reforms, also discussed below, that will kill nature, according to leading conservationists. The food farmers produce is healthier than many ultra-processed plant-based alternatives (see story below), but when it comes to the government’s new food strategy, their voices are in danger of being drowned out. Thankfully, the forthcoming edition of The Rural Report features insight and analysis from Knight Frank’s rural property experts that will help you feel in control of your business, whatever might be thrown at it. Register to receive The Rural Report here.
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Commodity markets
Milk prices robust, for now
Average farm-gate milk prices are holding firm, according to the latest figures from Defra. Values fell just 0.08p/litre in March to 42.06p/litre. Prices are 18% higher than 12 months ago, but production during the month rose by 3.9% year-on-year to 1,373 million litres. Good grass-growing weather could further boost April output, putting pressure on spot prices as milk processors struggle to cope with the extra volumes.
Weather dampens wheat
Improving crop prospects and stagnant demand around the world pulled back wheat prices further last week. The UK and much of Europe enjoyed welcome rain, and in the Black Sea region, southern Russia received some showers. The favourable North American weather outlook for the rest of April has also brought some relief for the US Plains and Canada, while Argentina’s crop is forecast at 20.5 million tonnes, potentially the largest on record. In Australia, eastern regions are getting some much-needed rain to ease dryness concerns for new crop planting and germination.
The headline
Planning bill criticism mounts
A group of influential environmentalists, former government advisors and economists, including Isabella and Charlie Burrell, owners of the Knepp Estate, Ben Goldsmith and Partha Dasgupta, have signed a strongly worded open letter to MPs criticising parts of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is currently at its committee stage.
They claim that the bill’s proposed Nature Restoration Fund, which would allow developers to meet their environmental obligations by paying into a central fund that would then be used for nature restoration projects, is a “licence to kill nature”.
“This proposal allows companies to ‘buy out’ of their legal obligations to nature. It is not a targeted tool for nature recovery, it is a blunt instrument that rewards bad planning and penalises good practice,” states the letter.
The signatories are particularly concerned that any levies paid into the fund could be adjusted downwards depending on the viability of the development. “In practice, this means that nature will always lose out when economic pressures arise,” they say.
News in brief
Nature abundance stagnant
Meanwhile, Defra’s latest species abundance report, which tracks the populations of 1,176 different species of plants and animals, shows limited signs of improvement. By 2023, the index of change in relative abundance of species in England had declined to around 67% of its 1970 value. More recently, between 2018 and 2023, the index did not change meaningfully overall, but 40% of species still showed a strong or weak decline.
Greening GDP
The Green Alliance has just published its roadmap for how the Dasgupta Review should be translated into actionable policies that could help to reverse species decline. The 2021 review into the economics of biodiversity was commissioned by the UK Treasury, and its findings, which revealed how mainstream economics ignores the true value of nature, were considered groundbreaking at the time. However, little action based on its conclusions has been taken so far. Among other recommendations, the Green Alliance suggests replacing GDP as a measure of economic growth with a new, wider prosperity metric that includes biodiversity.
Net-zero turning off farmers
A two-day “citizens’ jury” of farmers and landowners convened by the Agrifood for Net Zero Network+ has concluded that the government’s net-zero targets are a barrier to change. Although rural businesses want to play their part in cutting emissions, they took issue with a disproportionate focus on farming by policymakers, impractical mitigation interventions, a lack of ground-truthing in government policy and limited engagement with grassroots farmers.
Citizen food panel
But the government says it does want to listen to the public. As reported in The Grocer, Defra has revealed it will set up a new Citizens Advisory Council, reporting to ministers alongside the industry-dominated Food Strategy Advisory Board, which was established last month. The council will gauge support for the government’s food policies, including those that promote the reduction of meat consumption.
Ultra-processed worries
Council members may, however, want to check out a recent study by researchers at the University of Antwerp that has revealed that ultra-processed plant-based foods, such as meat and dairy substitutes, contain higher levels of organophosphorus pollutants, including flame retardants, than their animal-based equivalents. Plant-based cheese alternatives were the most contaminated, according to the research published in Environmental Science and Technology. However, the levels were not considered high enough to present an immediate danger to human health.
Sign up for Rural Report
The Spring/Summer 2025 edition of The Rural Report, Knight Frank’s flagship publication for rural businesses, which looks in more detail at many of the issues discussed in The Rural Update, is due to be published soon. To receive your copy, which includes the latest news, research and insights from Knight Frank’s rural property experts, as well as thought-provoking contributions from some of Britain’s most iconic estates, please sign up here.
Property of the week
Private Essex island
This week’s Property of the Week is something slightly out of the ordinary. Osea Island, near Maldon, is a totally private 380-acre island on the River Blackwater, which has been settled for over 5,000 years and boasts a fascinating history, especially around its top-secret role during WWI. It includes 38 residential properties, ranging from large houses to small holiday lets, and nine commercial properties that can be used for hosting events, film shoots, wellness retreats and many other exciting opportunities. The guide price is £25 million. Please get in touch with Georgie Veale for more information.
Discover more of the farms and estates on the market with Knight Frank
Property markets
Farmland Q1 2025 – Values resilient
The farmland market in England and Wales is holding steady in the face of mounting sector pressures. Despite wider challenges across the agricultural sector and ongoing policy uncertainty, values have remained largely stable, underlining the market’s resilience.
The Knight Frank Farmland Index, which tracks the average price of bare agricultural land across England and Wales, showed a marginal drop of 1% in the first quarter of 2025 to £9,072/acre. This follows a similar small decline in the final three months of 2024, bringing the annual fall to just 1.9%. “While farmer protests and policy reform have dominated headlines, the farmland market itself has experienced a fairly uneventful start to the year,” says Will Matthews, our Head of Farms and Estates. “Values have remained steady, and relatively few new properties have been put up for sale so far in 2025.” Just over 8,000 acres were publicly launched during the first quarter – a drop of 11% compared with the same period last year.
Country houses Q1 2025 – Mixed picture
The average price of desirable homes in the countryside slipped by just 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, according to the Knight Frank Prime County House Index. Over the past 12 months, values have fallen by 1.6%. Expectations of an extra base-rate cut by the Bank of England this year could help steady markets, says Tom Bill, Knight Frank’s Head of UK Residential Research. However, the top end of the market is faring less well as wealthier buyers worry about Keir Starmer’s reforms to the non-dom tax regime and general attitude towards the rich. Average prices for properties over £5 million have fallen 3% on an annual basis, with the number of new applicants falling 15% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2024.
Development land Q4 2024 – Housing delivery down
Only 2% of the 50 housebuilders recently surveyed by Knight Frank believe that the sector will deliver the 300,000 new homes that the government is targeting for 2025. The gloomy prognosis is contained in the latest instalment of our Residential Development Land Index report, compiled by researcher Anna Ward, which reveals that the price of green and brownfield development land remained flat in the final quarter of the year, despite Labour’s ambitious housebuilding targets and planning reforms. Download the full report for more insight and data.