His family runs a fruit farm, restaurant and farm shop in Cornwall. Here, he talks about his role and passion for farming.

What are your current goals as Defra Minister?

At the moment, we’re working on the Great British Food and Farming Plan, which we hope to publish in the spring. This will set out a clear plan for the next 25 years, looking at issues such as skills – how we can make it easier for new entrants to get into the industry, and increase the number of apprenticeships – and also what we need to do to both open new export markets and promote British products overseas.

What are your views on the use of technology in agriculture?

We think technology has a crucial role to play in improving resource efficiency, improving our use of water, reducing waste, enhancing yield and reducing dependency on pesticides. I think genetic technologies in particular will be vital. I spoke at the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham last November about how technology is key to unlocking the potential of farming – it will improve the industry’s resilience, and particularly its ability to deal with pests and diseases.

Tell us more about the work of the Agrimetrics Centre, which you launched in October 2015. How will it benefit UK agriculture?

We launched our Agrimetrics Centre to look at how we can harness data to improve farm productivity.

One of the things the centre will do is develop complex computer models to try to make sense of all the data that’s out there. At Defra, we’ve been looking at releasing all the different datasets we’ve got – there are some 8,000 different sets, on everything from the marine environment and land use, right through to research into impacts of weather, disease and pests. A computer-modelling system that can analyse the data and make sense of it will be a really powerful management tool.

How do you ensure that technological advances in agriculture filter down to smaller, more traditional farms?

That’s one of the areas we’ll be addressing in our 25-year plan, looking at different contractual models that allow small farm businesses to become part of something bigger. There are also things we’ll be doing with the CAP funds to try to support collaborative working, and help assist knowledge transfer. There’s no point having all this stuff going on in the laboratory if we don’t then look at ways to ensure an increased uptake from farmers across the board.

How will Defra implement the budget cuts announced in the Autumn Statement?

I think Defra got quite a good settlement. There was speculation we would have a 30% cut in our budget – in the end it was 15%. We think we can go a very long way to finding the savings we need just by getting the family of Defra agencies and bodies working more closely together.

Should farmers be concerned about the drive to achieve these savings? What are your priorities?

We’ve already been very clear that the prime concern for Defra when it comes to agriculture is defending the country against pests and disease. Making sure we’ve got the resilience to cope when something goes wrong is our number one priority.

You come from a farming family. How does this help with your role, and does it lend you greater credibility in the eyes of farmers?

It’s great to be able to reconcile my passions for politics and farming. I think it does help in a role like this where you’ve got lots of complex and technical issues to deal with. If you’ve been at the other end, having to deal with regulations and paperwork, it gives you a perspective that you can bring to the job. Farmers still give me a hard time though, and have no qualms about telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about!

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