Farming needs £4.4bn a year, not £3.5bn, say green lobby groups

Tougher environmental targets and higher costs to achieve them mean a substantial increase in Treasury funding for farm support is needed, according to a new report from green lobby groups.

Commissioned by the RSPB, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts, and launched at the Groundswell regenerative farming festival in Hertfordshire, the report (PDF) notes that the government now has legally binding targets on both biodiversity gains and achieving net zero carbon emissions.

See also: Defra to launch 23 actions under SFI 2023 from August

The UK spends about £3.5bn a year on agricultural subsidies – a legacy of the old EU Common Agricultural Policy and a sum which has, since Brexit, been eaten into by inflation.

According to the report, the “scale of need” has risen due to ongoing declines in biodiversity, which have led to new environmental commitments and legally binding targets.

“In addition, factors such as the war in Ukraine and the associated cost-of-living crisis have led to significant changes in the cost drivers impacting UK agriculture,” says the report.

As such, it claims that “at least £4.4bn a year needs to be directed solely towards agri-environment schemes that will allow the UK to achieve its net zero greenhouse gas emissions target, halt and reverse the catastrophic declines of nature, improve air and water quality, and look after our cultural heritage”.

The report is published a week after Defra announced details of its 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive, which will pay farmers in England varying amounts for 23 actions designed to improve the environmental impact of farming.

It also recently opened the second round of the Landscape Recovery scheme, which has £15m available for larger-scale projects aimed at reversing declines in nature, improving the landscape and tackling climate change.

But the green NGOs suggest this is just scratching the surface, saying that without proper support, both environmental delivery and food security will be put at further risk.

“The findings of this report are clear,” said Joan Edwards, director of public affairs at the Wildlife Trusts. “The Treasury must back up political promises with more cash because we can’t continue to take nature for granted.

“We are calling on all UK governments to ramp up support for farmers and land managers so they feel it’s worth taking action for nature.”