Richest farmers in England may lose sustainability funding in Defra review
========================================================================

Exclusive: Officials explore restricting incentive to allocate greater funds to farms with less money and more nature

The richest farmers will not be able to apply for post-Brexit nature funding under plans for England being considered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Farming groups and climate experts have warned that such a plan would “leave farmers in the cold” and make it more difficult for the UK to reach net zero by 2050.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, this week announced that  and reformed before June’s spending review. The scope of the scheme – and its budget – are being reassessed.

The SFI is part of a package of payments that replaced the EU’s common agricultural policy and paid land managers for the amount of land in their care, with the aim of paying farmers to look after nature, soil and other public goods, rather than simply for farming and owning land.

The Guardian understands that the view in the department is that the scheme is now too wide and gets spent too quickly. Rather than being assessed on merit, payments are “first come, first served”, meaning farms with agents to fill out documents have an advantage in accessing funding. It also means many productive farms use up the funding by doing things such as leaving grassy margins and scattering wild birdseed. Ministers believe the money could be better spent on farms that are less well-off but more rich in nature, which could make a more positive difference to the environment.

Daniel Zeichner, the farming minister, told parliament on Wednesday: “The schemes that we inherited had no way of prioritising properly; it was a first-come, first-served scheme. I was very clear when I took over that we would not immediately overturn the existing system; we wanted to give people confidence about the future. However, when we come to redesign the scheme, we can design it better to address  issues.”

Defra sources confirmed they were exploring plans to make it a more targeted scheme, meaning the farms that make the most money would not be able to apply.

This is likely to be just the latest measure to be unpopular with farmers, after the government introduced an inheritance tax on agricultural land in the autumn budget and this week announced plans to give Natural England the power to compulsorily buy farmland. A report published this week shows that farmers’ income  since the 1970s.

Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “My big fear is the transition was sold as an opportunity for all farmers. Now it feels like it’s going to be much more targeted in its delivery, leaving some farms in the cold.

“A wider scheme means people can move up the scale and be more ambitious; making it more targeted would mean some farmers won’t be able to get on the ladder and start delivering for nature.

“We want to work with Defra to develop the detail of this, but our position has been there should be funds available for every farmer who wants to contribute to nature.”



Sign up to First Edition

Free daily newsletter

Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters

Enter your email address



**Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google  and  apply.

after newsletter promotion

However, some believe that – if implemented correctly – this could be a positive move. Lucy Pegg, political adviser at the thinktank Green Alliance, said: “The farming budget is crucial to Britain’s stability and security, so must be protected. But when budgets are tight, it is right that funding is directed towards the lowest-paid farmers, who cannot make a profit from food production alone.

“Often these farmers also have the biggest role to play in protecting the environment and it is right their work reducing flood risk, creating carbon-storing habitats and protecting beloved wildlife is supported by government.”

Tom Lancaster, head of land, food and farming at the Energy and Climate Information Unit, said: “The evidence points to the fact that you can’t meet legally binding nature and water targets without a widely available scheme like the SFI.

“Many of the low-carbon farming methods included in the seventh carbon budget advice  may also lean on the SFI. The key thing for Defra now is not to restrict the availability of the scheme, but to better target the options in the scheme. This could include putting caps on certain options that have absorbed too much of the funding so far and that are likely to deliver questionable value for money.”

Explore more on these topics

*   
*   
*   
*   



Reuse this content



More on this story
------------------

### Farmers in England furious as Defra pauses post-Brexit payment scheme

4d ago

### Farmers worried if they will make it to 2026 amid ‘cashflow crisis’, says NFU

25 Feb 2025

### Farmland in England to be reduced by more than 10% under government plans

31 Jan 2025

### UK’s first glyphosate-resistant weed found on Kent farm

10 Jan 2025

### Labour’s agriculture plans will increase chicken waste in rivers, say campaigners

9 Jan 2025

### Inheritance tax on farms should be delayed to avoid unfairness, says thinktank

25 Nov 2024

### Farmers aged 80 and above could get exemption from inheritance tax

21 Nov 2024

### UK environment secretary vows to ensure farmers are paid fairly for produce

21 Nov 2024

### UK failing animals with just one welfare inspector for every 878 farms – report

20 Nov 2024

### No hiding place for Labour’s farming minister as Whitehall teems with tweed and gumboots

19 Nov 2024

Most viewed
-----------

### Most viewed

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 

### Most viewed

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 

*   
*   
*   
*   
*   

Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning



*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   

*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   
*   



© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)
```