Over 5,000 British farmers risk being left without funding for environmental projects after Labour pulled the plug on long-standing countryside stewardship schemes, creating fresh turmoil in the agricultural sector.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that 5,820 agreements will expire in December. These deals, often worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, have underpinned decades of conservation work, from planting wildflower meadows to maintaining hedgerows.
Now, with Labour scrapping them without a clear replacement, farmers face the stark choice of absorbing the costs themselves or tearing up wildlife habitats.
The Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is phasing out stewardship grants in favour of its flagship Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Yet the SFI scheme has been closed to new applications since March, with no details on when, or if, it will reopen.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) has sounded the alarm, accusing Labour of leaving the sector in limbo. Deputy president David Exwood warned the government’s dithering risks “undoing decades of work.”
“Farmers have had agri-environment agreements for 30 years,” he said. “Through these agreements, farmers have done everything from creating wildflower corridors for pollinators and growing feed for farmland birds to nurturing species-rich grassland, all of which contribute to the Government’s environmental targets.
“But without a plan from Defra about the future of these schemes, they’re left with a difficult decision – to either continue their environmental work, potentially putting them out of pocket, or to put this land back into food production, which isn’t always a straightforward or immediately available option.”
The loss of funding comes at a punishing time for rural Britain. From April, family estates worth more than £1m will face a 20% inheritance tax, a policy branded reckless by critics who say it threatens the country’s food security.
Conservation groups are equally alarmed. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it was “deeply concerned” by the potential loss of habitats. Alice Groom, the charity’s head of sustainable land use, said: “At a time when farmers were meant to be able to access funding to increase wildlife habitat, the Government must act to prevent these vital habitats being lost by ensuring a continuation of funding, particularly for those with ambitious countryside stewardship and legacy agreements.”
The Countryside Alliance also condemned the chaos, warning that Labour’s stop-start approach could force farmers to “rip out old environmental improvements and replace them with new ones continually, which is no use to anyone, least of all the farmers themselves.”
The NFU has urged Defra to extend existing agreements for at least one year while a proper long-term strategy is developed. Labour ministers have so far refused to commit.
A Defra spokesman attempted to defend the move, insisting: “We are aware there are some agreements ending in the months ahead and considering how best to deliver for the environment, the public and farmers.
“We are working with the farmers to build a more profitable farming system with food production at its core and helps restore nature in an uncertain world. This Government is making the largest investment in nature-friendly farming in history across the parliament, but we also inherited untargeted farming schemes.”
Despite such assurances, farmers remain unconvinced. With deadlines looming and no clear plan, many believe Labour’s indecision has left them high and dry… and Britain’s biodiversity hanging in the balance.
