Make a donation

Help fund our work to amplify nature-friendly farming’s benefits to farmers and policymakers across the UK

Policy & Views

Read a variety of articles, including topical blogs, comment pieces on policy developments and updates on key moments in farming.

Campaigns

Catch up with our latest campaigns and find out more about our work.

Farm Practices

Explore information on many aspects of nature-friendly farm practices.

What is the NFFN?

Discover our mission, our vision and the challenge we meet.

Meet The Team

Meet the farmers in our regional steering groups and the staff team at our core

FAQs

Got a question about nature-friendly farming? We've got it covered here

Supporters

We're proud to work with many organisations who support our mission.
News

MP pledges to support nature-friendly farmers in Somerset following constituency meeting

England
Budget
community-supported agriculture
Environmental Land Management scheme
food system
Government

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, met with farmers who are working to produce food while caring for the environment. They discussed the biggest issues facing agriculture and how she can raise these challenges in the House of Commons.

A Somerset MP has met with a group of nature-friendly farmers from her constituency, pledging support and expressing hope for a productive relationship between environmentally-conscious farmers and their local representative.

Rachel Gilmour, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, met a dozen farmers at a roundtable discussion hosted by NFFN England vice chair Holly Purdey.

Attendees included multi-generational farming families and growers from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project.

Discussions covered a range of topics, from the financial difficulties of transitioning to nature-friendly approaches to agriculture to broader national issues like the contentious inheritance tax reforms.

Holly said: “We had a relaxed and open conversation involving all the farmers in the room. This approach worked well, allowing a diverse range of voices to be heard and ensuring that a solution-focused conversation took place. It also helped us understand how we as her farmer constituents can support Rachel's role as our MP.

“It was a very positive day, and I’m grateful that Rachel listened to us and committed to building a stronger relationship going forward. I’m confident we can build on this and, over time, work constructively with Rachel to support nature-friendly farming in Parliament.”

Rachel committed to visiting each of the farmers who attended the meeting to learn more about their approaches to producing food while caring for the land. She also agreed to arrange for one of the farmers to address the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on farming.

The discussion frequently returned to the challenges faced by smaller, independent farms, including the constant changes to agri-environmental schemes and uncertainty around payments. Holly and the other farmers stressed the importance of enabling long-term planning to support the implementation of nature-friendly changes on their land.

The event was organised with the support of the NFFN and Hope for the Future, which helps people engage with politicians about the climate crisis.