Agricultural shows like the Great Yorkshire Show are a chance to showcase the best of British farming - Mark Spencer

Once upon a time I was Chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, so it was important that part of my day included a chance to speak to some young farmers, many of whom will have been inspired by attending the show as young children and have been helping their parents show off their finest livestock over the last few days.

And of course agricultural shows aren’t just about those growing up in farming families – there is also huge benefit from the education they provide about food, farming and the environment.

As Farming Minister, there is an element of education in my work too. Attending agricultural shows allows me to listen to farmers’ experiences of the agricultural transition so far, gauge how current market conditions are affecting their businesses, and understand how they are getting on with our new farming schemes which aim to help them produce food more sustainably.

Based on feedback over the last year, we’ve made significant, positive changes to our flagship environmental scheme - the Sustainable Farming Incentive – and we will begin accepting applications to our new SFI 2023 scheme from August.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive pays farmers to take actions to produce food sustainably and improve farm productivity and resilience, while protecting and improving the environment.

We’ve now got 23 actions on offer – covering areas including soil health and hedgerows - and are offering farmers more flexibility to pick and choose the actions they want to be paid for.

These include things like £10 a side for every 100 metres of hedgerow a farmer maintains, providing vital habitats for wildlife, or £673 per hectare for planting wildflowers at the edges of fields.

We want to increase the number of farmers taking part in our environmental schemes as this will be an important way we can achieve our environmental targets. We want as many farmers as possible to adopt nature-friendly farming techniques by 2030 on at least 10 per cent of their land, halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, and increase tree and hedgerow cover.

I know the vast majority of farmers see the benefits of ensuring food production goes hand in hand with improving the natural environment.

Not only does it invest in the foundations of food security – from making their soils healthier and more fertile, to delivering a network of clean waterways and encouraging an abundance of pollinators – but it also ensures the land they farm now can continue to be productive for generations to come.

I will continue to offer farmers my full support as we take forward our new farming offers to achieve a more sustainable future for farming.

Mark Spencer is Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries.