The Future of Food Chains

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD

FOOD PRODUCTION: RE-SHORING THE UK’S FOOD SUPPLY

AGRI-CULTURE

The agricultural sector within the UK is undergoing a period of structural change, owed to a range of factors including climate change, a post-Brexit labour shortage, and inflation for inputs. Whilst the industry has struggled to navigate challenges largely outside of its control, we anticipate that agriculture in the UK will continue to be a key sector. The United Kingdom is well positioned to seize opportunities from the rapidly growing ag-tech and automation industries which looks to offer technological solutions from managing variability in weather, to optimizing land allocations, and minimizing barriers to entry for new small and independent farming operations. At present, 71% of the UK’s land is comprised of utilized agricultural area, totalling 9 million hectares and comprised of over 100,000 holdings in England alone, over a third of which is allocated for grazing livestock and dairy herds.