NFU: More help still needed for farmers facing cashflow crisis

The NFU has welcomed a number of government announcements on farming and growing following Back British Farming Day last week but says that more still needs to be done on the key issue of farm support, with many farmers facing a cash-flow crisis.
Emma Ryan
By Emma Ryan
Published 23rd Sep 2023, 11:45 GMT

Speaking at the NFU’s Back British Farming Day reception in Parliament this week, Defra Secretary of State Therese Coffey unveiled a number of new measures in areas the NFU has long campaigned on.

Positive news for British farmers included support for a ‘buy British button’ in online supermarket shopping, a new grant scheme for rooftop solar panel installation, confirmation that farmers enrolling in new environmental support schemes will be able to use them to meet public procurement standards, and a new £4m fund to help upgrade small abattoirs to improve animal welfare, business efficiency and productivity.

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Further, after the NFU had called on ministers to “do the right thing”, the Secretary of State recognised the issues with SFI, committing that those farmers able to sign up in October would be paid 25 per cent of the money this year once their claims were agreed.

While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.
While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.

NFU President Minette Batters said: “We have heard a number of welcome announcements this week, and credit where it’s due, farmers will be pleased government has listened to them. But the backdrop to these pieces of good news is that many farmers continue to face a bleak end to the year, with money they were promised, and rely on, not coming.

“While we have been working hard to prepare for changes to the essential support schemes that support farming and environmental management, delays in the rollout of the new scheme, coupled with reductions in the current scheme, mean most farmers have been unable to access the new SFI while facing significant holes in their finances from the withdrawal of BPS.

"While this announcement will provide welcome progress, it doesn’t go far enough to deliver on the promises made countless times that the replacement to BPS would be open to all, less bureaucratic and offer a profitable and seamless transition from old to the new. What we have today, after years in the making, is still a million miles away.

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"In the short-term, we need the government to bridge the gap it has created in taking away one set of payments before delivering access to their replacements.”

While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.
While government announcements were welcomed on Back British Farming Day, more can be done said the NFU.

After one of the most challenging years in farming – record extremes in weather, a cost of living crisis, huge agricultural inflation, supply chains disputed and the resulting empty supermarket shelves – the NFU had called for government to “do the right thing” and bridge the massive financial black hole in farm support caused by problems with the changeover in support schemes from the old Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) to the new Sustainable Farm Incentive (SFI).

Serious challenges have been mounting with significant delays to the start of the SFI, which should have been up and running to deliver payments by December. At the same time farmers are facing ongoing reductions in BPS, with the pot being reduced by £720m so far.

Related topics:ParliamentDEFRA