Rutland farmers say more money needs to go into sustainability in farming
Around 3000 farmers who started applications for nature-friendly farming payments will have the chance to apply for funding
Farmers in Rutland say reopening nature-friendly farming payments might not be enough.
It's as around 3000 farmers who started applications for payments before the scheme was abruptly shut will have the chance to apply for funding.
We don't know whether there will be a successor scheme to this
The Government caused uproar when it announced on March 11th 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.
Around 3,000 farmers who started applications after January 12th 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.
This is having an impact on our ability to deliver for nature and produce food for the nation
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 11th 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.
It's more of a moral victory than it is financially beneficial
Joe Stanley from the Rutland NFU said:
"The sustainable farming incentive was supposed to be the mechanism by which farmers would be able to stay in business and produce food at the same time as caring for the environment."
"Although of course it is welcome, sadly it's more of a moral victory than it is financially beneficial."
"Two thirds of English farms are still outside that scheme and we don't know whether there will be a successor scheme to this."
"This is having an impact on the number of farms that we have in the UK and our ability to deliver for nature and produce food for the nation. "