Industry leaders seek election clarity on future farm budget

Farming organisations are challenging political parties to reveal their future funding plans for agriculture, following prime minister Rishi Sunak announcement of a snap general election for 4 July.

Independent modelling from agri-food consultancy Andersons, commissioned by the NFU, has suggested an annual budget for England of about £4bn is needed from 2025 to 2030 to deliver the UK government’s statutory environmental ambitions and a balanced farming policy.

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This eclipses the current annual £2.4bn pot for agriculture in England, and is more than the total UK budget of about £3.6bn.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said whichever party won the election must commit to a multi-year agriculture budget to invest in British food production.

“We believe this should be centred around investment in productivity and stability, which will ensure a competitive and resilient agricultural sector, and investment in environmental delivery to support our environmental ambitions and a more sustainable economy,” he added.

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to increase the budget in England by £1bn a year to support farmers’ incomes and the transition to environmentally sustainable farming. There has been no funding commitment yet from either the Conservatives or Labour.

Doing more with less

Michael Haverty, partner and research consultant at Andersons, said: “The old Basic Payment Scheme, which is being phased out, used to be about 90% profit. The profitability under the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship in England is much less, about 50%.

“Farmers are being asked to do more and more for less support, especially when you consider the impact of inflation and that the farming budget has remained broadly the same in nominal terms since 2007.”

The Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) launched an online petition last month calling on the UK government to double its current agriculture budget to support a “just transition to sustainable farming”.

LWA campaigns co-ordinator Jyoti Fernandes said: “It is government’s responsibility to make sure we have a budget big enough to do the job.”

Double the budget

Vicki Hird, the Wildlife Trusts’ strategic lead on agriculture, agreed that the next government should double the agricultural budget “to enable farmers to adapt to climate change and make the transition to nature-friendly farming”.

“You would have hoped the Lib Dems’ pledge of an extra £1bn for farming would have spurred other parties into making an announcement,” she said. “The Labour Party is not saying anything about money. Perhaps they realise they are going to inherit empty coffers if they do win the election.”

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the next government may choose to hold a spending review covering just 2025-26, to give itself more time to plan its long-term strategy on public spending for the rest of the parliament.