The NFU and other farming and rural bodies have given a ‘cautious welcome’ to Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s announcement of an overall settlement of £7.4 billion for Defra.
In the run-up to the Chancellor’s spending review, there were fears Defra could be heavily hit, with big implications for the farming and environment budget.
While there has been a 2.7% cut to the department’s budget, the £2.7 billion allocated for farming and nature recovery from 2026 to 2029 is more than had been widely anticipated. Nonetheless, within this there will be a £100 million cut to farming and countryside programmes, according to the NFU. It pointed out that this comes after the agriculture budget has already been eroded over the past decade by inflation, significantly reducing its spending power.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “While the Defra Secretary of State has listened and managed to maintain the overall funding for farming and nature recovery, from what we can see so far, the £100 million cut to farming means farmers and growers will need to do more with less.
“The devil will be in the detail. And it’s essential that the Environmental Land Management schemes will be accessible for all farmers to get involved.”
“It’s also incredibly disappointing that the Chancellor didn’t take this opportunity to do the right thing on the family farm tax, especially when farmers and growers are the working people of Britain, the same people this government claims it wants to see thrive.”
Cautiously optimistic
NPA senior policy adviser Tom Haynes said while Defra could not be considered one of the winners, ‘there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic’.
“It is worth stressing that the department has come out of the Spending Review process in a lot stronger a place than many (including those in Defra) were expecting. Many of these cuts will be met by internal ‘savings and efficiencies’, but regardless the department is still going to face some difficult decisions over the coming months,” he said.
“Defra did comparatively well compared to other departments, with areas like policing and the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and Culture, Media and Sport all coming out of yesterday’s SR with big headaches for the years to come.”
Sigh of relief
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) President Victoria Vyvyan said: “While we still need further detail, it is clear that this is a meaningful funding settlement. Many farmers will be breathing a sigh of relief.
“We now need Defra to work closely with industry to understand how to get the best bang for their buck – to further the impressive gains we have already made in nature-friendly farming. Trust and confidence have been shaken, and this is an opportunity to rebuild.
“It is clear though that government still has not fully understood the consequences of its anti-business policies. Taxes are going up, jobs are being lost and investment in the rural economy is crumbling. Now is the time to get around the table with rural business leaders and thrash out a robust and ambitious plan for growth.”
Show of commitment
The settlement was also welcomed by environmental groups. Will White, Sustainable Farming Coordinator at Sustain, said: “This is a much-needed show of commitment for nature-friendly farming.
“The funding commitment for Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes is a vital signal that the government recognises the central role of farmers in delivering climate action, restoring nature, and ensuring food security.”
Soil Association Director of Policy Brendan Costelloe said: “The farming and nature settlement will have been hard won by Defra ministers, but it still amounts to real term cuts and it will now be even harder for the Government to reach its environmental targets.
“Given the scale of the challenge, it’s more critical than ever that spending is targeted at those areas that do most to deliver transformational change.