A BBC report today notes the government’s latest £233m fund allocation for sustainable farming has fallen substantially short of needs, leading to a scramble of online applications, and leaving thousands of farmers out of pocket.
Cllr Stephen Thompson, Green Ward Councillor for Boxley Downs, Maidstone, says:
“Environmental stewardship should not be a lottery. Farmers should not have to take part in a six-hour online race to secure funding for the work our countryside depends on.
Yesterday’s £233 million Sustainable Farming Incentive funding window opened, and closed again less than six hours later because the entire budget was already allocated.
We know there is strong demand from farmers to invest in sustainable land management, and the funding mechanism is failing to give them the certainty they need.
The NFU had warned in June that the available environmental land management budget was insufficient to meet demand.
Ministers knew this would be an exceptionally high‑pressure round, yet still allowed a first‑come, first‑served system that turned environmental stewardship into a race against the clock.
The Government must now tell us how many farmers were ready and eligible to apply but missed out, and how much planned environmental work will now not happen as a result.
Farmers need certainty. Nature needs continuity. And the public needs confidence that environmental funding is being allocated through a system designed around good land management, not whoever can click fastest.
As a Green councillor, I want farmers to be properly supported to produce food locally, while restoring soils, protecting water, improving biodiversity and adapting to climate change. This is not a luxury; It is part of building resilient farms and resilient communities.
In Kent, where farming, food, horticulture, water resources and biodiversity are so closely interconnected, this uncertainty is not just a problem for individual farm businesses; it is a problem for our long-term local resilience.”
Cllr Thompson is the Cabinet Lead for Economic Development at Maidstone Borough Council.
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