The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said more needs to be done on the issue of farm support, as farmers are facing a “cashflow crisis”.
The union said it is welcoming a number of recent government announcements on farming and growing, but warns that this is not enough.
Earlier this month, the NFU said farmers are facing a “bleak end to 2023” due to delays in the roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
It called for the government to “do the right thing” and bridge the financial gap in farm support caused by the changeover in support schemes from the old Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) to SFI.
Serious challenges have been mounting with significant delays to the start of the SFI, which should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, the NFU said.
NFU President Minette Batters said: “We have heard a number of welcome announcements this week, and credit where it’s due, farmers will be pleased government has listened to them.
“But the backdrop to these pieces of good news is that many farmers continue to face a bleak end to the year, with money they were promised, and rely on, not coming.
“While we have been working hard to prepare for changes to the essential support schemes that support farming and environmental management, delays in the rollout of the new scheme, coupled with reductions in the current scheme, mean most farmers have been unable to access the new SFI while facing significant holes in their finances from the withdrawal of BPS.”
SFI
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced at the end of August that farmers could start registering their interest for the scheme from August 30, and that applications would begin to be accepted from Monday, September 18.
However, the NFU said the SFI should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, but “critical delays” in the roll out of the scheme mean most farmers are unable to access it.
“Under the current plans the SFI is open to the few and not the majority,” Batters said.
“The lack of budget transparency in Defra makes it almost impossible to know where the BPS money, initially earmarked for SFI in 2023-24, has gone.
“In the short-term, we need the government to bridge the gap it has created in taking away one set of payments before delivering access to their replacements by ensuring farm support payments made in December are not capped as currently planned.”
