Latest news with #naturefriendly
The Guardian
16-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Labour cutting farming budget in England by £100m a year, figures shows
Labour is cutting the farming budget in England by £100m a year, spending review figures show. Despite the decrease, the budget has been cautiously welcomed by nature and farming groups, as there were fears the Treasury had wanted to reduce the funding further. Farmers have felt squeezed by the Labour government's policies over recent months, with mass protests over the introduction of inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m. Extreme weather and rising input prices have increased financial pressures on the sector, which has meant that a cut to the budget could have serious impacts. Ministers have also indicated that larger farms could be ineligible for the nature-friendly farming fund in future. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs was recently forced to U-turn on a freeze to new applicants for the fund after the National Farmers' Union (NFU) threatened legal action. Previous research by the RSPB has found that a £100m a year cut would lead to 239,000 fewer hectares (590,580 acres) of nature-friendly farmland. Defra said the funding paid to farmers under of environment land management schemes (Elms) would 'skyrocket' from £800m in 2023-24 to £2bn in 2028-29. However, the NFU has called this 'misleading' because after Brexit, farmers were promised that their subsidies would be the same as they were under the EU and were promised a figure of £2.4bn a year. The Elms programme was devised by the conservatives after Brexit: the goal was that rather than being paid per acre, farmers should be paid for improving nature. While the programme was being put in place,the acreage payments known as basic payments schemes (BPS) were kept, and cut each year as Elms increased. BPS is due to be phased out entirely by 2028. Farmers currently get the £2.4bn a year in the two streams as well as a smaller amount of money in grants for things such as robotics trials. Going forward, the government has promised an average of £2.3bn a year up to 2028-29 for the farming budget. By the end of the spending period the budget will shrink to £2.25bn, with £2bn allocated for Elms and the rest paid in productivity grants. Sanjay Dhanda, the NFU's senior economist, has said Defra has been 'misleading' in its claims. He said: 'A key pillar of Defra's budget is the continued investment in Elms, with funding set to rise to £2bn by 2028-29, compared with the £1.8bn earmarked in the Autumn 2024 budget. While the government has framed this as a significant uplift from the £800m spent in 2023-24, this comparison is misleading as Elms was not fully operational at that point, and delinked payments [BPS] absorbed a large share of funding.' However, Defra sources pointed out that although the previous government allocated £2.4bn a year for Elms, the Tories in fact underspent it by about £100m a year. That government had, however, promised that by the end of the spending period, which was cut short by the general election, the full fund was ringfenced and would be allocated to farmers. Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, said: 'While the Defra secretary of state has listened and managed to maintain the overall funding for farming and nature recovery, from what we can see so far, the £100 million cut to farming means farmers and growers will need to do more with less.' Mark Spencer, a former farming minister who was in charge of issuing the farming budget, said the amount spent on Elms would have been higher than £2bn at the end of the spending period, under the Tories. 'The 2.4bn was meant for Elms. It was always our intention and emphasis to reduce BPS and pour the money into Elms and for the vast majority of it to go to Elms,' he said. Reacting to the cut, Spencer added: 'A part of me is angry, a part of me is just so sad. We made such huge progress and now it is in jeopardy.' Nature groups have credited Steve Reed, the environment secretary, for protecting the majority of the budget. Hilary McGrady, the director general of the National Trust, said the chancellor Rachel Reeves had maintained the budget for nature-friendly farming, adding: 'Steve Reed deserves credit for securing this budget in challenging financial circumstances.' A Defra spokesperson said: 'Contrary to media reports that the farming budget would be slashed by £1.2bn over the next three years, the government is investing a record £5.9bn into nature friendly farming schemes.'
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘I felt hopeful about my daughter's future': the farmers fixing our eco crisis
We Feed UK is a project pairing photographers with nature-friendly farmers to raise awareness of their positive solutions to the environmental crises we face. From all-women worker cooperatives in Edinburgh to traditional fishing practices off the southern coast, these stories touch every corner of the country. Sandra Salazar D'eca founded Go Grow With Love in Tottenham and Enfield, to support women of African and Caribbean heritage in nurturing a reciprocal relationship with local land. We Feed the UK is published by Papadakis with support from the the Gaia Foundation Photograph: Arpita Shah In Haringey, London, Paulette Henry and team run Black Rootz. You can read more here Photograph: Arpita Shah Oceans have nourished us for thousands of years, but the bounties of our blue planet are ebbing. You can see more images of fishers working off the coasts of Cornwall and the Scilly Isles in this gallery Photograph: Jon Tonks Photographer Jon Tonks: 'Being a small-scale fisher offers a few metaphors for life. When the weather tells you not to fish, listen. Allow the seas to replenish. Sustainable fishing means something different to everyone, but real sustainability teaches us not to be greedy, to give nature a chance, and leave enough for the next generation. There is an understanding in these parts, an atmosphere, of people who live by the sea. Knowing when to fish, but more importantly when not to' Photograph: Jon Tonks Sons inherit Scottish farms in 85% of cases, yet over half of UK family farm workers are women. In Edinburgh, Lauriston Farm is run by a majority-women workers' cooperative, who are drawing on the power of local people to restore a 100-acre urban growing site. When it started in 2021 it was the largest urban farm in Scotland Photograph: Sophie Gerrard/Sophie Gerrard 2023 all rights reserved Photographer Sophie Gerrard: 'Our landscape is part of our identity in Scotland. Yet that's a story predominantly told by men. Where are the women's viewpoints? These photographs focus on their contribution. There is so much scope for positivity in these landscapes, with new opportunities constantly opening. This is a movement' Photograph: Sophie Gerrard Incentivised by the increasing cost of artificial fertiliser, Stuart Johnson (of West WharmleyFarm in Northumberland) started to naturally restore the soil on his family farm by brewing up his own compost teas and introducing mob grazing. With dung beetles and earthworms as the crucial collaborators – recycling waste, excreting nutrients and improving drainage – wildlife is returning. Stuart won Soil farmer of the year in 2023 Photograph: Johannah Churchill Photographer Johannah Churchill: 'When I met Stuart and his family I felt hope for the first time in ages. Post-pandemic, with the cost of living crisis, and war and destruction all around us, it is impossible not to get bogged down. This has been much more than a commission: it's felt like coming up for air' Photograph: Johannah Churchill Irish flax has been turned into linen for 2,000 years, or so the peat bogs tell us. But a 20th-century tangle of changing circumstances, including two world wars, was the downfall of homegrown handkerchiefs. After 50 years, Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon from Mallon Farm, Co Tyrone are reviving the tradition of growing flax for fibre. Their 'wee blue blossom' is chemical-free, sown with a 'fiddle', harvested by hand, 'scutched' on a restored turbine, and threaded into local supply chains Photograph: Yvette Monahan Photographer Yvette Monahan: 'The most profound lesson I learned at Mallon Farm is the transformative power of personal passion in creating change. Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon have turned the land from a dairy farm into a biodiverse flax, food and wildlife ecosystem. Caring is growing a plant that knows this landscape, preparing bare fields for tiny seeds and trusting the natural cycle of the earth and the unpredictable Tyrone weather patterns. After 100 chemical-free days, the harvest is pulled and tied by the caring hands of family and friends' Photograph: Yvette Monahan The Black Country's identity was forged by coal mining. From this legacy of extraction, Neville Portas (from No Diggity Gardens) has sprouted allotments now nourishing the earth. The community's circular system of growing food and composting waste keeps No Diggity Gardens rolling. When that soil is left undug, carbon is kept underground, revealing the real value of the world beneath our feet Photograph: Ayesha Jones Photographer Ayesha Jones: 'Through this project, I've witnessed how impactful nurturing the soil can be, not just for the earth but for everyone and everything. Nurturing soil is not just about growing food; it's about cultivating a deeper bond with nature and inspiring the next generation' Photograph: Ayesha Jones Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) is home to the UK's largest intergenerational nature restoration project, Penpont Photograph: Andy Pilsbury Photographer Andy Pilsbury: 'Whether photographing tree grafting or sheep shearing or river surveys, it was always about community. This became the real strength and focus of the work. Every time I came away from the Penpont project, having observed the restorative harmony that was unfolding, I felt hopeful about my daughter's future' Photograph: Andy Pilsbury Fordhall Organic Farm in Shropshire is the first community-owned farm in England. Photographer Aaron Schuman: 'Fordhall has grown into a nurturing farm for the surrounding community who can visit, volunteer and actively engage with the land. Each person is encouraged to develop a relationship with place that is intimate, immersive and 'hefted' to the land itself. This work represents my own profound experience of connection, and the immediacy and sensorial intensity of the nature I found there' Photograph: Aaron Schuman On the organic, 300-acre Strickley Farm in Cumbria, James Robinson is weaving a wild tapestry of grassland, woodland and becks, threaded together by seven miles of ancient hedgerow. Through an intimate knowledge of the species that share this space, regenerative farming practices, and his family's unique hedge-laying language, James is creating an agriculture for the entire community of life Photograph: AJP/Johannes Pretorius Lúa Ribeira photographed trial plots at Gothelney Farm in Bridgwater, part of the South West Grain Network Photograph: Lúa Ribeira
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Somerset farmers aim to go green without SFI grants
When the government axed the Sustainable Farming Incentive, many farmers said the loss of cash incentives to grow nature-friendly crops would leave them facing a hard choice was between growing as much food as possible to make a profit, or looking after nature while losing money in the some farmers argue it is possible to do Stanley raises beef cattle entirely on untouched grass pastures at Lilliput Farm near Bath, a practice which substantially reduces carbon emissions. "This is working because of public demand," he what is he doing to make his farm more sustainable, and how does he make it pay? Can you raise a low-carbon cow? Aidan and his dad Oliver walk me up an old valley just north of Bath. The land has been pasture meadow since royalist forces drew up their lines on Lansdown Hill above us, in the English Civil War in the 1600s."These oak trees were mostly planted in the 18th Century," remarks Stanleys' farming style is as old as the meadow. They allow grass to grow, with wildflowers and among plenty of trees, then move the cattle onto it to graze. The old trees help store carbon, and the meadow has not been ploughed in hundreds of years."The cattle just eat grass from the pasture and hay made from it in the winter - nothing else," says Oliver. This is more radical than it may sound. Most of us only see cows when they are eating grass out in the most cows spend a lot more time in barns, eating grain."Most cattle in the UK is grain-fed for most of its life," explains Aidan."In fact 'grass-fed' labels [in supermarkets] mean only that a cow has eaten grass for 51% of its life."So what? Does it matter if cows eat grain?"Because we don't use grain that saves more carbon on the fertiliser that would have been used in the transport and the processing," Aidan added. Is the meat more expensive? Farming like this has its costs, of cows grow more slowly - typically taking three years to reach a full weight before they are slaughtered, compared with just 15 months for conventional beef to allow the grass time to grow back, farmers tend to have fewer cattle and more fields than typical beef farms, meaning that per acre, per year, the beef is more do they make it pay then?The answer is right next to the field of cows: their own restaurant. "The restaurant makes this work," explains Aidan. "This is the main outlet for our beef."At lunchtime the restaurant sells sausages and beefburgers, the latter from the farm's own cows of course, alongside high-end vegetarian dishes. Sunday roasts are popular with families, and in its first year the restaurant had 22,000 adds: "As the government withdraws support for sustainable farming it is going to be harder for people to do this, but it's reassuring that this is working because of public demand." Can every farm go green without grants? Of course, not every farm can open its own restaurant. And the country need farmers supplying ordinary shops with everyday can other farmers follow these more sustainable systems, and still turn a profit?While visiting the farm, I meet Jimmy Woodrow, who runs Pasture for Life. His organisation persuades farmers to raise cattle entirely on grass, and they have certified Lilliput insists that this kind of green farming can save farmers money. He explains: "If you're reducing your costs on things like feed, fertiliser, vet and medical costs, you going to have more profit on each cow. The challenge for smaller farms, is how many animals do you need to make a living? It's a lot."And this is where he thinks government does have a role. "There are lots of farmers who are doing a fantastic job for nature, while being profitable, but they need government support if they are to scale up and produce more food," he says. Since the government closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme in March, they have been consulting on a replacement. Officials told me the "improved SFI scheme" will be launched in the summer.A government spokesperson said: "The scheme will target public funds more effectively to meet the needs of both farmers and the environment."
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Around 3,000 farmers can apply for closed nature farming scheme after ‘error'
Thousands of farmers who had started applications for nature-friendly farming payments before the scheme was abruptly shut will have the chance to apply for funding. The Government caused uproar when it announced on March 11 that the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers in England for 'public goods' such as insecticide-free farming, wildflower strips and managing ponds and hedgerows, was fully allocated for this year. At the time it said it had stopped accepting new applications for the incentive – the largest part of the new environmental land management (Elms) programme which has replaced EU-era farming subsidies – with immediate effect. But ministers have apologised for confusion caused by a message 'shown in error' when people started an application and saved it, which told them they would receive six weeks' notice if the Government needed to close applications. The message, which was shown alongside one correctly telling farmers their application would be available for two months before being deleted if not submitted, 'should not have been included and I apologise for the confusion it caused', food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner said. Around 3,000 farmers who started applications after January 12 but had not submitted them when the scheme was halted will now be able to apply for funding up to £9,300 a year – the average value for existing agreements for this year – with restrictions. Mr Zeichner acknowledged the restrictions were not in the original scheme but said they had been put in place to be fair and reasonable to affected applicants while also 'ensuring the prudent use of public money'. In a written ministerial statement Mr Zeichner said the budget for this year's scheme had already been fully allocated and the extra applications would have to be funded from other areas of the Environment Department (Defra's) budget. He also said that 'every penny' committed through more than 37,000 live SFI agreements that were in place before March 11 would continue to be paid to farmers over the coming years, and all eligible applications submitted before applications closed had been taken forward. The Government is planning to reform the SFI scheme and has promised to provide more details about the new programme later in the summer. The announcement comes after the National Farmers' Union (NFU) co-ordinated threatened legal action over Defra's failure to give the proper notice period for the closure of the scheme, claiming more than 6,000 farmers had started applications when the scheme was suddenly scrapped. NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: 'The Government's abrupt and wholly unacceptable decision to close the scheme was always wrong. 'While it's good to see an acknowledgement that the decision to close the scheme was flawed, we are disappointed by the constraints imposed which will still leave many farmers unfairly disadvantaged. 'This is a really critical time for the farming industry, and while today's announcement falls short of what our members deserve, this issue highlights the NFU at its very best, working with its members to stand up for what we believe is right.' Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), said: 'The Government's decision to review the position of farmers who had started to put SFI applications in is welcome. 'The speed of closure was harsh and didn't give the six weeks' notification stated on the website. 'However, this doesn't help all the farmers who were not able to get their applications started due to work pressures. There is also a clear need to improve the system for SFI.'
