Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party could cut financial support for farms affected by floods, The Guardian reported.
Floods in the United Kingdom have started this autumn, flushing away freshly sown crops and farmers are facing another unprofitable harvest season. Flooding has occurred across the country and more rain is expected by the end of this week.
Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire faced the wettest September on record.
Farmers fear they are about to suffer a financial blow, still awaiting government payments for January’s floods. Farmers’ confidence could shudder as ministers consider cutting the organic farming budget by around £100 million a year.
National Farmers Union vice-president Rachel Hallos said:
Back in May, farmers impacted by the devastating storms at the start of the year were promised help through the expanded farming recovery fund offer, but this has not been forthcoming.Months later, farm businesses are still suffering the impact of the relentless rain. Thousands of acres of farmland have been completely saturated and unusable, and we’ve just finished an incredibly difficult harvest with huge variations in yield and quality.
Highly-placed sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said decisions on how much money to pay farmers for the floods have been delayed by the spending review and that cuts are on the table.
Floods are undermining the UK’s food security and experts believe flooding is being made worse by climate change. Apart from, farm income in England fell by 19 per cent in 2023 after floods made it impossible to harvest many crops. Farms also contributed less to England’s economy in 2023 – £10 billion, £1 billion or 8.7 per cent less than in 2022. Total farm income to farmers from agriculture in England was £4.5 billion, £1.1 billion or 19.0% less than in 2022.
The Conservatives earlier this year promised up to £25,000 in payments for uninsured flood damage caused by Storm Henk. However, the eligibility criteria for these grants has yet to be set, leaving farmers without funds. The scheme suffers from delays, some affected farmers do not receive payments because they live too far from the river.
