The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has stopped all Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) applications without warning.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has brought into question the department’s transparency and its ability to deliver the agricultural transition promised.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “This is another shattering blow to English farms, delivered yet again with no warning, no understanding of the industry and a complete lack of compassion or care.
“We have had major concerns for years about whether there was the capability within Defra to deliver the agricultural transition post-Brexit. We have warned time and time again that large parts of the SFI were poorly designed and that the department was consistently failing to deliver it.
“Today’s terrible news was delivered with only 30 minutes warning to us before ministers briefed the press, leaving us unable to inform our members. There has been no consultation, no communication; there has been a total lack of the ‘partnership and co-design’ Defra loves to talk about. It is another example of the growing disregard for agriculture within the department.
“The fact that ministers are actually trumpeting this as good news shows how desperately detached they are from the reality on the ground and how little they understand this industry.”
In a statement, Defra said that every penny in all existing SFI agreements would be paid to farmers, with outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted to also be taken forward.
Daniel Zeichner, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, said: “This Government is proud to have set the biggest budget for sustainable food produce in history, to boost growth in rural communities and all across the UK, under our Plan for Change.
“More farmers are now in schemes and more money is being spent through them than ever before. That is true today and will remain true tomorrow.
“We have now successfully allocated the SFI24 budget as promised.”
Farmers “pay the price”
Bradshaw continued: “It leaves us with little choice but to see Defra as a failing department. The chaos has got worse and worse and farmers are paying the price. Bad decisions, misdirection, promises broken, no transparency and yet more financial disaster for farming.
“When the Chancellor dramatically accelerated the end of the old schemes for all farmers, it was on the promise that they would all be able to access the new ones, which paid them for doing environmental work. But the door has now been slammed shut for thousands of farmers, creating haves and have nots based purely on timing.
“They say the money is spent, but because Defra refuses to be transparent we don’t know where it’s been spent, or whether it’s all been spent within this year.
“The awful dilemma now faced by many farmers is whether to turn their backs on environmental work and just farm as hard as they can to survive. This is a loss to both farming and the environment and cannot be what was intended.
“It is a bleak irony that we were set to reveal tomorrow that farming confidence in England and Wales has plummeted to its lowest level ever – lower than last year when those who are now Defra Ministers said it was a scandal and a disaster.
“If confidence was at rock bottom and investment through the floor yesterday, tomorrow it will be gone entirely.”
