
Without government support, family farms will be driven out of existence, says Fen Tiger
One attack by Rachel Reeves was more than enough. But the Chancellor and the Labour government seem hell bent on destroying family farms.
The Chancellor has repeatedly pulled the rug of financial support from farmers – halting capital grants, closing the Sustainable Farming Incentive and now all but phasing out direct payments completed.
The Environmental Land Management (ELMs) scheme was designed to replace basic payments – rewarding farmers for sustainable food production while delivering environmental goods and services.
The powers that be argue that food production has too often been at the expense of biodiversity – so ELMs was brought in to redress the balance. It’s all about public money for public goods.
ELMs is meant to be worth about £2.5 billion a year to farmers – set up after Brexit to effectively replace the money growers and livestock producers once received from the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.
This government claims it is investing £5 billion in farming over the next two years. But it says after that time support will focus on smaller farms. What that actually means is anyone’s guess because details have yet to emerge.
Flagship scheme
It doesn’t bode well. This March, the government halted new applications to its flagship ELMs scheme – the Sustainable Farming Incentive – with immediate effect, robbing farmers of the opportunity to replace lost income.
After the threat of a legal challenge, farms that had started an application but not finished it were given six weeks to submit it. But even this was subject to restrictions which included a cap of £9,300 per year per application.
With the dreadful family farm tax, the faster phase-out of the basic payment and poorly thought-through trade deals, it’s no wonder that farming is suffering from a desperate lack of certainty and confidence in this government.
I don’t think any farming family feels valued and appreciated for the service they provide. Without financial support there is a significant risk that thousands of family farms will see their futures thrown into doubt.
Feeding the nation
If British farmers find themselves unable to put food on to British plates, then food will have to be imported – often from other countries with lower environmental and animal welfare standards than our own.
At one time, it was certainly true that most arable farms have been making a profit – but these profits have been heavily reliant on the basic payment. And few of those farms are making any profit at all at the moment.
One or two very few lucky large farms in this area have claim to be self-sufficient. But look closely and it’s evident that income from food production is supplemented with income from gravel extraction or building development.
Without support – in any form – family farms will struggle to survive, let along thrive. As a minority, farmers are easy targets for the government. But we provide much more than food for people to eat. It’s about time those in power realised.
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