Farming incomes have been “devastated” by the government’s abrupt closure of its Sustainable Farming Incentive, according to new research by the Country Land & Business Association.
A survey of CLA members found almost 95% of respondents had been looking to apply for additional funding under the SFI before its shock closure on 11 March, with Defra stating it had already reached its budget.
The sudden closure of the post-Brexit farm subsidy scheme sent shockwaves through rural communities, prompting the NFU to say the move had “crushed all trust” in the government department – which had portrayed its closure and record take-up as a success.
Many farms would now be forced to abandon sustainable production plans, the NFU warned, while many thousands faced big budget shortfalls.
And following a recent poll of 312 CLA members, the trade body said just 4.5% of respondents were content they had achieved all they had wanted from the SFI scheme. Some 54% were already in some form of SFI agreement but 40% were not, and had intended to apply for some of the scheme’s sustainability-led actions, which had been expanded to 102 options last May.
Many businesses who took part in the survey were taking advice to prepare their SFI application, the CLA said, and had already invested in professional advisers, before it suddenly closed.
Others had agreements ending this year and would not now be able to apply for another scheme until next year.
“No farmer can plan for an environmentally sustainable farming future when rules change overnight,” said CLA president Victoria Vyvyan.
“Without the management contracts which were promised, many face a cash crisis. Work to restore soil, protect nature and cut emissions costs money, and so in the absence of funding there is a danger that important projects will be shelved.”
Her comments are at odds with recent claims by farming minister Daniel Zeichner that farm business incomes as a whole are forecast to rise in the first year of the Labour government.
Trust must rebuilt and a new SFI must be negotiated “quickly”, Vyvyan urged. “The future of sustainable farming depends on it.”
The CLA said it would be “sharing the results of its survey with government ministers and advisers to demonstrate the real-life impact this closure is having on rural businesses, and the strength of feeling about the decision”.
It added it would “continue to engage with ministers and MPs to try and mitigate the impact of these changes, as well as shape future schemes”.
It comes as Zeichner earlier this month said he “sympathised” with the farming sector over the short-notice closure of the SFI.
But speaking in his first appearance in front of the Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee, he also doubled down on the government’s decision to close the scheme, hailed its record take-up and said “we should be pleased so much land is now farmed in a different way”.
A new SFI is due to be announced in the summer following the government’s upcoming spending review.
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