A speech by the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, given at the annual Jersey Farming Conference on 6 November 2025. Slightly edited.
I’ve been coming to these conferences for a number of years now and every year I’m encouraged when I see new faces and hear new ideas and opportunities being harnessed by this industry.
I first became an Assistant Minister in 2020, at that time the Government was spending just over £1m per year on our agricultural sector and 16% of that was on the administration of the grant scheme.
This year we’ve deployed more than £10m in support to this sector and despite having additional support mechanisms and more recipients than ever before our administration costs this year were actually lower than they were in 2019.
Back in 2019, Government’s limited support reached just 36 businesses of which only 6 were smallholders.
This year, we’ve supported 166 businesses, including 46 smallholders.
In 2019, productivity in the agricultural sector was £39,000 per FTE, today it’s closer to £60,000 – and nearly twice that of the UK.
When I became Minister in July 2022 the Island was facing its driest summer on record and we were just months into the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
This war may seem a long way from our peaceful Island but an attack by the world’s largest wheat exporter on the fifth largest exporter had a seismic effect on global agriculture prices.
We saw the cost of animal feed rise by more than 40% in the first six months of that year at a time when Jersey’s own conditions meant our dairy industry needed 20% more feed than usual – this left more than half a million in extra in-year costs to the Island’s dairy farmers.
Within my first hundred days as Minister, we were able to find this money and get it out the door via the Quality Milk Payment to help meet this urgent pressure.
Despite all the challenges of recent years Jersey’s agricultural sector has grown more productive and more resilient.
Last year this sector grew by 6% outperforming most other private sector industries.
We’ve seen Albert Bartlett invest an impressive £3m this year to market our Jersey Royals – I’m sure you’ve all seen the iconic purple packets and TV ads and so have millions of UK customers.
This is a significant vote of confidence in this sector but more importantly it lays the groundwork for future sales and raises brand awareness for one of Jersey’s most iconic exports.
But this sector is so much more than just its produce. Farming is integral to Jersey’s history, its culture and its landscape.
If we want our countryside to stay green and beautiful we need to ensure agriculture remains viable.
That young Islanders can find exciting and fulfilling careers in farming.
That businesses can reinvest in their operations and that producers can find new products, new customers and new markets.
We’ve come so far since 2019 and despite all the challenges that have been thrown at this industry you have continued to preserve and even thrive.
But there remains more to be done.
Although we have turned a corner after decades of falling government support, we still remain below the per-capita funding of most of our near neighbours.
Next year we’ll be launching a new online portal for the Rural Support Scheme which will be delivered by Farm Jersey, this should make applications simpler and help us to keep admin costs down.
We’ll continue to distribute the Agricultural Loans fund via our partners at Jersey Business and will be working to speed up the approval process so that projects can begin as quickly as possible.
We will also be investing more money in the Cultivate Programme to create rural apprenticeships and training opportunities for young Islanders to find careers in this exciting industry.
John Vautier’s presentation this afternoon will go into more detail about our plans for next year and how we’ll be distributing the more than £10 million of funding for the agricultural sector in 2026.
As many of you will know this will be John Vautier’s last conference in his current role of Sector Lead for Rural and Marine. I’m pleased to say he’s not going too far and his work with this sector is far from over but it is an opportunity to recognise the vital work that John has done during his time in Government.
It has been a pleasure to watch our rural economy grow and to navigate the many headwinds which have come our way in recent years.
Day-in, day-out, it is your efforts which have risen to the challenges that have faced us and strengthened our rural economy.
To have built up your productivity and actually grown the sector in spite of the many challenges, both local and international that you’ve faced over the past few years is truly impressive.
However the political ground lies following the election next year I want to assure you that as long as Deputy Luce and I are in politics, this sector will not be forgotten.
After decades of falling support by past Governments we have now turned a corner but we need the next Government to seize the opportunities before us.
