The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ predecessor as a UK government department was the Board of Agriculture, created by an act of parliament in 1889. It later became known as the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and was responsible for these areas before the creation of the Ministry of Agriculture in 1919. The department assumed all government responsibilities for agricultural matters.

Initially small, the Ministry had oversight of pest control and diseases, livestock improvement, agricultural research and the provision of small-holdings and allotments. The interwar period saw the Ministry move into agricultural subsidies and financial support for farmers. There were moves towards standardisation in agricultural products and packaging and the creation of marketing boards for certain products. With the outbreak of the Second World War further powers were granted over land management to encourage food production.

The department merged with the wartime era Ministry of Food in 1955 to become the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The functions of the Ministry would, in 2002, ultimately become absorbed into the new Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (known as DEFRA) when the Ministry was abolished.