Flooded farmers 'forgotten about' by government

Henry Ward, who farms at Shortferry near Lincoln, is angry at the delay in payment

Thousands of farmers who were promised financial help after the devastating floods of last winter say they have still not been paid.

The Farm Recovery Fund was set up by the previous government to support farmers whose land had been damaged by flooding during Storm Babet and Storm Henk.

It offered grants of up to £25,000. Some early claimants received payment in July but a second eligible group - thought to include several thousand farmers - is still waiting for financial support.

The Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) said further information about the scheme would be provided "in due course".

Henry Ward's farm at Shortferry near Lincoln was included in May's expanded support scheme.

He is angry that eight months on from the winter floods he has not received anything from the Farm Recovery Fund.

"I just feel like I have been completely forgotten about," he said.

"I just feel that this government doesn't care about farmers and helping us out."

Mr Ward has decided not to plant wheat this year in farmland close to the Barlings Eau river, saying the risk of flooding was too great.

Instead, he has sown a crop of wildflowers that will be left in the fields to feed birds.

He said the government payment he would receive for planting this would be "significantly less" than the income from a wheat crop.

Thousand of acres of Henry Ward's farm near Lincoln were submerged last winter

The Farm Recovery Fund was first announced in January under the Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak.

Following complaints from farmers, the scheme was expanded in May to include many more farms that had been hit by over-topping rivers and exceptionally heavy rainfall.

A government statement in May said the expanded fund was there to help those "who have suffered significant damage to their land as a result of prolonged and extreme wet weather and flooding, and will help support UK food security".

It promised payments would be made "this summer".

Richard Wordsworth, a senior adviser at the National Farmers' Union, said they were seeking clarity from the government over the payments.

"I would hope that several thousand farmers would benefit from the scheme," he said.

He said there were concerns about the delay because "from a mental health point of view there is quite an impact here".

Flood risk means Henry Ward is now planting flowers for wild birds in his fields rather than risking a crop of wheat

The breach in Lincolnshire's Barling's Eau caused thousands of acres of farmland to flood

Defra, the government department that oversees the payments, has not offered a specific timescale for payment to farmers from the fund.

However, their spokesperson said: “This government will introduce a new deal for farmers which will boost Britain’s food security, restore nature and support rural economic growth.

"We will restore stability and confidence amongst farmers by optimising our schemes and grants, ensuring they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, deliver food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way and better protect farmland from flooding through a new Flood Resilience Taskforce.”

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