In a classic ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’ moment, removing agricultural property relief has triggered a huge outpouring of distress from UK farmers. Of course it’s not just about this. Many farmers have been buckling under the strain of change over the last seven years. From exiting the EU without a serious plan to new trade agreements that damage UK businesses; from the end of Basic Payment schemes and getting their heads around the new ELM schemes, working out whether they still have viable businesses; from unfair contracts in the supply chain, to downward pressure on farmgate prices. All that, and then disruptive weather events and climate change, the cumulative effects are overwhelming.

It is barely worth mentioning that it was not this government that brought them to this point.

However, it now falls to this government to fix it.

So what could the Defra team do right now, to offer much needed vision, clarity and leadership to what is one of the most foundational sectors in our whole economy?

The first thing it needs to demonstrate is that it gets farmers’ concerns. Not just warm words, as the formidable Baroness Batters used to say, but taking proper stock of what’s happening right now. This needs a detailed and transparent impact assessment of what is working and what is not, and some serious listening to the diverse voices and perspectives that make up the farming sector.

They’d probably hear that most farmers are well aware that changing inheritance rules won’t destroy small family farms, but their spirit is being crushed by a lack of clear direction, the continued dominance of big business in the supply chain, and addition of yet another burden on their personal and financial resilience.

The huge changes have had differential impacts on different types of enterprise. There are farmers who read the runes and set a course to make their farms more resilient and adaptable, reducing reliance on costly inputs, integrating natural capital payments into their business plans, developing products where they add value at the farm gate, diversifying their businesses.

But there are many for whom these were not options, who are being left behind in the transition to new environmental schemes, who are locked into old business plans which don’t work for them anymore, or who don’t have the capacity to diversify their business.

None of this has been helped by crass comments from some who clearly don’t understand the microeconomic realities of the sector and are all too willing to repeat unthinking cliches. “Don’t tell me they’re poor when they’re standing in front of a combine worth half a million…” “If it's making less than £20k profit a year, it ain't worth £2m.” What they don’t know is that this essential machinery is likely leased, and 40% of farmers earn less than the minimum wage. Those who own their farms may be asset-rich, but the return on capital employed across the sector, a key measure of profitability, is extremely low. In a food system worth £100bn a year in the UK, it’s not primary producers who are reaping the rewards.

After some serious listening and taking stock of the current state, government must set out its plan for food and farming. One that involves and engages all farmers in a national mission for a more secure, resilient sector and a greener, fairer future for farming, which in turn contributes to a healthier, fairer food system that improves health and reduces inequalities.

In 2018, the then Defra Secretary of State, Michael Gove, wrote Health and Harmony, a plan for the future of food, farming and the environment. This government needs to set out its own serious and compelling version of the future, this time incorporating a strategic plan for food resilience.

Farmers tend to be pragmatic, reasonable small businesspeople. Most would accept they don’t need special treatment, but they want to operate in a fair and transparent system. They want Ministers to be honest, tell them where they’re headed, provide the transition support required, and they will act. Farmers want what any critical sector wants; to work in partnership with a government that respects and understand them, enables them to plan for the long term and who will create conditions for good businesses to flourish.

Getting this right is not just a matter for Defra. This isn’t a narrow, agricultural issue. If we want an economy that is resilient, prosperous, and secure, we need a countryside filled with farmers connected to their communities growing good healthy food in harmony with nature. Those farmers need to be the foundation of a renewed food system that works for the benefit of all.

This month, FFCC is holding two important events in Westminster. Next week, in our farming leadership group symposium, farmer leaders, economists and businesses will be exploring the economics of fairer food and farming. We will be discussing innovative and practical ideas about how government can reset the policy conditions for a rebalanced, fairer farming future. Instead of continuing a deeply dysfunctional system which allows global agribusinesses and manufacturers to extract as much value as they can from farmers, and profit from making all of us unhealthy, how can we make it good business to be a good business?

On 19th November, we are hosting our Citizens Food Summit. The culmination of The Food Conversation, an 18-month programme of dialogue and deliberation right around the UK, citizens, businesses, civil society organisations and farmers meet to share and discuss their recommendations with policy makers.

Food matters to all of us. Citizens get the connections between what happens on farms and the food on their plate. They instinctively know that a flourishing UK farm sector is important in a volatile and uncertain future. They support farmers trying to farm sustainably, they want more connection with where their food is grown, and they want the government to act to defend a critical UK sector at risk of falling into decline.

We’d welcome all politicians and industry leaders to come and listen.

Meanwhile, farmers need more bespoke, independent strategic advice – everything from improving soil health and restoring nature to improve productivity without costly inputs; to business planning in a rapidly changing global context; to the mediating skills often needed in succession planning. It will be possible to mitigate the effects of removing APR with proper planning; restructuring business ownership or handing on to the next generation sooner rather than later (a move that would be welcomed in many farm kitchens).

And farmers need cool heads from leaders. It would be easy to tip many farmers over the edge right now, when what we all need is calm, clear and responsible dialogue and practical proposals.

But more urgently than ever, farmers need to know this government is listening, it understands, and that it is ready to set out a plan – a mission - for more sustainable food and farming – for the sake of all our futures.