National Farmers Union calls for urgent review into Defra grant reform plans

The National Farmers Union (NFU) is calling for an urgent review of Defra’s future farming programme for England, including the postponement of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) reductions in 2022 and 2023, as farmers and growers continue to deal with severe disruptions to food producing businesses.

The BPS is the biggest rural grants and payment scheme that provides help to the farming industry.

The NFU is the largest member organisation for farmers in England and Wales.

In a statement released today the NFU said that the ‘perfect storm’ resulting from worker shortages bringing a halt to the UK’s supply chains in some places, as well as rising inflation adding increased costs to farms, against a backdrop of disrupted trade flows and a fierce retail price war, is causing huge challenges to those trying to run farming businesses.

The NFU has also expressed concerns after the National Audit Office reported that Defra had not yet published detailed objectives or ensured adequate incentive for farmers’ participation in the new Environmental Land Management scheme, expected to replace BPS, resulting in a lack of uptake and the critical mass needed to achieve success for the government’s own environmental ambitions.

NFU President Minette Batters said farmers and growers were currently facing huge challenges, even before the phasing out of direct payments and replacing those with the Environmental Land Management schemes, which Defra doesn’t expect to be fully operational until 2024, adding a review would provide ministers with more time to develop replacement schemes and for the sector to move forward from the multiple issues it’s currently facing.

She said: “This change in agricultural policy represents the biggest transformation for farmers in generations, and the NFU and its members want – and need – this transition to be a success. We have set out our path for achieving net zero by 2040 and want to ensure we can continue to produce climate friendly food to feed the nation, with our current self-sufficiency levels at 60%. We want to see this maintained as a minimum, with government setting an ambition for growth in its new food security report later this year.

She went on: “But I really fear for the future success of farming in this country if the government presses ahead with its current timetable to transition to its new agriculture policy schemes which simply aren’t ready. That’s why we are calling for a postponement to the BPS reductions in 2022 and 2023, alongside a thorough review,” adding: “If these schemes are to be fit for purpose, we will need to see thousands of farmers signing up, instead of the 100s we have today.”