Defra secretary George Eustice has promised English farmers they will receive the “vast majority” of funds released from the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) over the next three years, insisting the money is going into green schemes “accessible and workable for any farm”.
Farm leaders have raised concerns over Defra proposals to split the £2.4bn of subsidies paid each year to farmers in England evenly across the three Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes – the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery.
The NFU, the Tenant Farmers Association and others warned that a three-way split would benefit wealthy landowners without protecting tenant farmers and small and medium-size family farms.
See also: Opinion: Farmers missing a trick by ignoring Defra schemes
However, writing exclusively for Farmers Weekly, Mr Eustice reveals that the vast majority of funding released from the BPS over the next three years will be channelled into the SFI, Countryside Stewardship and then its successor, Local Nature Recovery.
Over the same period, less than 1% of the farming budget will be spent on Landscape Recovery projects – equivalent to less than £50m over the next three years, with the rest funded from the separate Nature for Climate Fund.
Mr Eustice writes: “We never intended the future budget to be divided into rigid EU-style pillars, and we want funding to be led by demand from farmers. All of the money coming out of BPS is going back into the sector.”
The new schemes will pay farmers to take care of nature alongside profitable food production, he explains, and will support food security and farm resilience in the long term.
Defra published full guidance on the SFI last week on its website, and the scheme opens for applications from farmers in England in late June. Soil health and regenerative farming techniques will be the key focus, and farmers will be paid between £22/ha and £58/ha to protect soils.
SFI expansion
Over the next few years, the SFI scheme will expand to cover integrated pest management techniques, hedges and more.
“We won’t tell farmers what they have to do in detailed prescriptions, but we will support the choices they make,” Mr Eustice writes.
Meanwhile, Defra plans to spend about £600m on farm-based innovation, productivity and prosperity over the next three years.
The NFU said it would “absolutely support” the vast majority of BPS money going back to farmers to promote sustainable food production and environmental management.
But the union said it was “misleading” to claim the value of ELM schemes would match that of the former BPS (see “NFU reacts to budget commitment”).
NFU reacts to budget commitment
The NFU has welcomed Defra’s pledge to maintain a well-funded agricultural budget, but it has warned the money must be redirected to the right areas.
NFU vice-president David Exwood said Environmental Land Management “is not cost free”, adding that participation would cost many farmers more than the BPS.
The union continues to have “serious concerns” about the accessibility and range of options on offer under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), particularly for tenants and upland farmers.
“Together with a coalition of industry representatives, the NFU continues to urge Defra to sufficiently resource the SFI with 65% of available funding, not the 30% currently earmarked, to ensure sustainable farming and food production can be at the forefront of British agriculture moving forwards,” Mr Exwood said.
