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Interim Director General Food and Farming

Mike Rowe

Biography

Mike Rowe was appointed Director General for Food and Farming at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in October 2026. He leads Defra’s work on the food system and farming, line manages the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency and sits on the departmental Executive Committee.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in the department. Most recently he served as Farming Director, from June 2025 to October 2026, with responsibility for delivering the 25-year Farming Roadmap and for the suite of Environmental Land Management Schemes through which farmers and land managers receive c£2.4billion of public money each year in return for providing environmental benefits on their land.

His previous senior roles in Defra include:

  • Director for Marine and Fisheries in Defra from 2021 to 2025
  • Director for EU and International Trade in Defra from 2019 to 2021
  • Principal Private Secretary from June 2017 to October 2019, serving three Secretaries of State
  • Deputy Director responsible for designing future agriculture policy in preparation for exiting the EU and the Common Agricultural Policy, from 2016-17
  • Deputy Director for Environmental Land Management policy and farming statistics, from 2014-16

Interim Director General Food and Farming

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Previous roles in government

  • UKCB Board Member for Defra
    • 2016 to 2017