Farmers say they feel “abandoned” as thousands of long-running nature scheme payments are due to end this year.

Figures released through a Freedom of Information request by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) show that 5,830 Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreements will finish in December. These schemes have offered payments for practices such as insecticide-free farming, wildflower margins and healthy hedgerows.

Gloucestershire arable and livestock farmer David Barton described the situation as leaving him “completely abandoned.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was working with farmers to build a more resilient and profitable sector, with an emphasis on food production “in an uncertain world.”

Mr Barton, 58, said: “This came out of the blue and with no clear direction. I think it’s absolutely woeful of any government to not have that direction.”

The ending of CS agreements forms part of the shift towards post-Brexit environmental land management schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). But applications for the SFI were closed in March after the year’s funding was fully allocated—leaving many farmers unsure about the future.

Mr Barton, from Cirencester, said his farm currently receives limited SFI support and he had been preparing to transfer his “comprehensive” CS scheme in January. With applications now shut, he said he has “no idea” what will happen after 31 December.

“Never before has one scheme run out before another one was up and running,” said Mr Barton.

He warned that his environmental projects, which are costly and require careful planning, could collapse without continued backing—causing “significant” environmental harm.

Warwickshire arable farmer Mark Meadows, 53, is also facing the end of his stewardship agreement on 31 December.

He said: “We’ve been hit with the double whammy this year that we’ve got poor yields and the prices just keep falling.

“To top it all off, we don’t know what’s going to happen with our environmental land.”

The NFU has urged Defra to extend existing CS agreements for another year while a long-term plan is developed. Deputy president David Exwood confirmed he has written to farming minister Daniel Zeichner to set out members’ concerns.

“Defra must provide a clear plan for their future, and urgently,” he said.

A Defra spokesperson said the department remains committed to investing in nature-friendly farming.

They added: “We are aware there are some agreements ending in the months ahead and considering how best to deliver for the environment, the public and farmers.”

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