Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure British farmers remain internationally competitive.

Leaving the EU and the Common Agricultural Policy gives us the opportunity to develop policies to support a competitive, productive and profitable farming industry. The UK has some of the most efficient farmers in the world but there are also wide variances between the most productive and least productive enterprises within some sectors. Our recently published consultation on the future of agriculture policy outlined a number of possible interventions that could improve farm profitability, including support for research and innovation, investment in new technology and support for new entrants to the industry.