The Government’s commitment to safeguarding funding for nature-friendly farming has been welcomed by environmental groups, though concerns persist over broader cuts to environmental budgets.

Ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending review, environmental advocates warned that reducing financial support for farmers and landowners who provide public goods—such as healthy soils, clean water, and hedgerow management—would jeopardize efforts to improve food security and reverse biodiversity loss.

These concerns come amid mounting climate challenges for farmers, recent changes to inheritance tax, and the sudden closure of this year’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), the largest component of the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs).

In the review, the Government announced a planned increase in ELMs funding, rising from £1.6 billion in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.

However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will see its overall budget fall by 0.7% in real terms over the same period.

Environmental organisations also highlighted what they estimate to be a real-terms reduction of £130 million per year in core resource funding.

While Defra intends to offset some of this through efficiency savings, it remains unclear which specific programmes might bear the brunt of the cuts.

Despite earlier concerns of more severe reductions, environmental groups and farming organisations broadly welcomed the decision to maintain support for ELMs. Nonetheless, they swiftly voiced unease over the overall budget decrease and the potential impact on key agencies like Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Campaigners stressed that Defra continues to lack adequate resources to enforce environmental regulations effectively—undermining its ability to hold polluters, including water companies, accountable.

Martin Lines, CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said: “Given the challenging economic climate, it’s a relief that the budget for nature-friendly farming has been largely protected. Ministers have listened to our calls to recognise the value of nature-friendly farming and what it can do.

“However, the challenges facing food production, biodiversity and climate resilience demand far greater ambition. Without increased investment, we risk falling short of our national commitments and letting down the very farmers ready to lead the transition.

“Investing in nature-friendly farming isn’t a luxury – it’s essential to future-proof British farming, protect our communities, and secure our food production.”

Country Land and Business Association president Victoria Vyvyan described it as a “meaningful funding settlement” but said further detail is needed. She added: “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.”

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said it was “incredibly disappointing” that the Chancellor did not announce a reversal of her controversial policy on inheritance tax, but continued: “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 £100m 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.”

Treasury data accompanying the review show an average annual increase of 2.3% in departmental budgets from 2023/24 to 2028/29, though individual departments will experience varying levels of growth.

For sustainable agriculture and nature recovery, the Government has earmarked £2.7 billion annually until 2028/29. Of this, £2.3 billion will support the farming and countryside programme—matching average spending under the previous Conservative government—while up to £400 million will come from additional nature-related initiatives.

In addition, £4.2 billion has been committed over three years (2026–29) for flood defence infrastructure, averaging £1.4 billion annually—a 5% increase on the current funding cycle, according to Defra.

 

 

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