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Cutting agricultural budget could be 'catastrophic' for nature, farmers and charities warn
The National Trust and RSPB have joined forces with farmers to warn the government that cutting the agricultural budget could be "catastrophic" for nature and rural businesses.
In a letter to food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner, exclusively seen by Sky News, a dozen of the biggest rural industry organisations say they are "deeply concerned" about rumoured cuts that will be made to the agricultural budget in Wednesday's spending review. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out budgets for each government department for the rest of this parliament, set to end in 2029.
The letter says cutting funding for existing and new environmental farming schemes will be "catastrophic" to the government's aims for the environment. "Many of the environmental features present in the countryside and enjoyed by the public will be under threat and will disappear," the letter says.
"This would be a poor legacy for this government." Sir Keir Starmer's government has made getting to net zero by 2050 a key goal, already initiating several policies to restrict carbon emissions and make the UK greener since winning the election last July. However, the government shocked farmers in March when it shut down applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which rewards farmers for managing their land in environmentally sustainable ways, with just a few hours' notice as they said a cap had been reached for the year.
The rural organisations say the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme payments are "critical to the government's statutory targets on environmental improvement.
Amir Nisi
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