Farmers call for clarity on incentive schemes

Matthew Izod, director of the north east Cotswold farming cluster, says it's a turbulent time for the industry

Farmers are calling on the government to take urgent action to support environmental programmes to provide much needed financial stability for the sector.

Representatives from the North East Cotswold Farming Cluster have met UK ambassador to the EU, Lindsay Appleby, during a two-day visit to Oxfordshire to promote growth in the region.

Farmers have told the ambassador the withdrawal of a programme designed to improve biodiversity has left "a hole in their finances" and "nowhere to go" after 20 years of the initiative.

The government said the farming schemes it inherited lacked targets and it would give further updates on a refreshed sustainable farming programme in due course.

Third generation farmer Matthew Izod is the director of the North East Cotswold Farming Cluster.

He said: "It's a turbulent time at the minute. Policy is all over the place. We need a real plan going forward."

Mr Izod has been working with 60 other farmers in the region, covering an area the size of 50,000 football pitches, promoting biodiversity through the government's Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Lindsay Appleby has been visiting Oxfordshire on a two-day trip to encourage closer relations with the EU

The programme pays farmers in England to manage land to protect soil, restore hedgerows and boost nature recovery, and replaced EU subsidies post-Brexit.

But it was unexpectedly frozen by the Labour government in March before being temporarily extended.

Mr Izod said: "I've got environmental schemes that have been going for 20 years and this year, I've got nowhere to go.

"That leaves a big hole in my finances but equally, that's 20 years of work which is no longer sustainable.

"We need stability in that environmental game, to be looking forward to the future. I really want to see that it is still on the table."

A Defra spokesperson confirmed a "reformed" Sustainable Farming Incentive was being considered and said: "We are backing farmers with the largest investment in nature-friendly farming in history to grow their businesses, get more British food on our plates and help restore nature.

"This government inherited farming schemes that were untargeted and underspent, however, there are now more than half of farmers in our schemes' meaning money is getting into their pockets."

Appleby said opportunities would come through a new "agriculture deal" with the EU that will help farmers to export their agricultural products to Europe "without any of the bureaucracy that was introduced after Brexit".

The ambassador's visit to Oxfordshire included a trip to Bicester Motion, FarmEd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and the Oxford Science Park, to talk about trade and investment opportunities.