MP welcomes ‘great news’ for North Devon farmers

North Devon’s MP has welcomed what is being hailed as the ‘biggest upgrade to UK farming grants and support since Brexit’ following an announcement today (Thursday).

Selaine Saxby was commenting following a speech by Defra secretary Steve Barclay at the Oxford Farming Conference, which unveiled a package of measures including an increase in grants, easier application processes, environmental initiatives and support of new technology.

The government says this will provide further support for British farmers, strengthening supply chains and helping deliver the Government’s commitment to continue to produce at least 60 per cent of food consumed in the UK.

Ms Saxby said: “This is great news for our farmers in North Devon who will see payment increase by 10 per cent in the average value of agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship and a consultation on British food labelling which will make it easier to support great British produce.

“I supported Dr Luke Evans’ ‘Buy British Button’ campaign and look forward to positive change this will bring to the farming industry.

“When I visit farmers in North Devon, a lot of the feedback I hear is that the previous application process for grants was long and complicated. I am delighted the process has now been simplified for 2024 and farmers will be able to submit applications from this summer.”

Among the pledges is a 10 per cent increase in the average value of agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship driven by increased payment rates, with uplifts automatically applied to existing agreements.

There will be a ‘streamlined single application process’ for farmers to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier payments.

Around 50 new ‘actions’ that farmers can get paid for across all types of farm businesses, including actions for agroforestry and those driving forward agricultural technology such as robotic mechanical weeding.

There will be enhanced payments for ‘creation’ and ‘maintenance’ options to improve the long term incentives for farmers to create habitats and ensure they are rewarded for looking after habitats once they have created them.

There will be premium payments for actions with the biggest environmental impact or combinations of actions that deliver benefits at scale, such as £765 per hectare for nesting plots for lapwing, and £1,242 per hectare for connecting river and floodplain habitat.

The government says the schemes are designed to work for all farm types and sizes, with thousands of farmers across England already taking part and replace the ‘bureaucratic’ Common Agricultural Policy, which it claims saw 50 per cent of funding go to the largest 10 per cent of landowners.