Dartmoor farmer launches campaign against subsidy cuts

A hill farmer from Dartmoor has launched a campaign to have cuts to the Basic Payment Scheme reimbursed, to help save farmers and suppliers who are facing bankruptcy.

Graham Palmer, from Yelverton, Devon, is urging farmers and suppliers affected by the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) cuts and who face growing uncertainty over the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme to write to their local MP and 10 Downing Street to explain the full consequences. 

He is also hoping to gain the support of TV presenter and celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson.

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Mr Palmer said of the change in government policy: “It is having a domino effect on the rural economy. Some of the suppliers I go to are pitiful – their shelves are empty and they’re trying to spread stock around to make the shop look full.

“The cost of everything has gone up, and our income has gone down, and we’re finding it almost too hard to continue. I already sold cattle last autumn that I would normally have overwintered, just to raise cash to pay some bills.”

With a small suckler herd of Aberdeen Angus and a flock of Scottish hill ewes, Mr Palmer has faced £7,000 of subsidy cuts in the past 12 months.

He said: “I’ve launched this campaign out of desperation. I just can’t work hard enough on the farm to compensate for that kind of loss. We just get by and that’s it – there’s no room for losses.”

Campaign

Taking matters into his own hands, Mr Palmer has been visiting local suppliers and vets with his flyers.

These state: “Any reduction in support payments to farmers and growers will have a negative financial impact on the whole industry. The less they get, the less they have to spend.”

Devon-based supplier Terry Cooks of T Cook Agrispares empathises with the struggles farmers are facing.

He said: “Because the government doesn’t seem to know what direction to go in, farmers are being left not knowing where their future is and where they can invest.

“If you haven’t got any certainty, then you can’t afford to invest the money. Farmers are being very careful now.”

Mental health

Money troubles and looming uncertainty are affecting more than just the farm business, says Mr Palmer, as the subsidy cuts are contributing to poor mental health.

“People are getting so desperate that they just turn inwards and don’t know where to go.

“There’s so much around this issue – farmers are committing suicide and having mental health breakdowns, and the problem is they’re not reaching out to the help that is out there.

“They’ve got to be honest with themselves and say ‘I’m in trouble, I need help’.

They’ve got to pluck up the courage just to give somebody a call; there are lots of guardian angels all around the country that will help them.”

In a last-ditch attempt, Mr Palmer believes that now, more than ever, the farming community needs to band together, and he encourages those affected to contact their suppliers, and urge them to write to their MPs to reverse the BPS cuts.