WINTER floods cost farmers £480 per hectare: a “staggering loss”, for which they needed practical, long-term support, the Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, told the House of Lords last week, in a debate that he had secured on flood prevention.
Businesses and livelihoods were under threat, and time pressure was critical, he said, describing farmers as “the bedrock of our nation”. England had had 95 per cent more rain in September than on average. With farmland flooded, the ground saturated, poor harvests, and crops impossible to plant, the Government needed urgently to roll out the expanded offer of the Farming Recovery Fund.
“The fund is designed to support farmers to restore their land to the condition it was in prior to flooding, in order to secure food supply, which, this Government have repeatedly assured us, is a key priority,” he said.
“Rural landowners and farmers provide a critical service in the form of natural flood management when their lands flood, and they do this by storing water. Farmers need to be properly compensated for providing this public service, not just for the cost of restoring this land to use for food production, but for the cost of lost income.”
The Bishop noted confirmation by the Secretary of State for DEFRA, Steve Reed, that no rollout of the fund could happen until the spending review was complete. “I regret that it should be delayed for so long, and stress that every week it is delayed, farmers and their businesses are suffering,” he said. “Can the Minister confirm that the expanded offer will be launched as soon as possible following completion of the spending review?”
In calling for a mutually agreed strategy to allow farmers to plan and prepare for flood storage, Dr Smith referred to the example of a Keswick hill farmer facing the dilemma whether to join a flood management scheme.
“If he entered his bottom valley field into the scheme, he would no longer have suitable grazing or haymaking land, and fodder would need to be brought in, which raises concerns about availability, price, and quality,” the Bishop said. “This is what people are actually facing: the day-by-day reality of how they are going to make their farms viable.”
The Bishop welcomed the Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce and its pledge to accelerate the construction of flood defences, drainage systems, and natural flood schemes. But he also referred to the state of disrepair in existing defences, consequent on two decades of decreased revenue and cuts to the Environment Agency’s revenue budget.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DEFRA, Baroness Hayman, paid tribute to the Bishop’s longstanding commitment to supporting British farmers, and to the pivotal part played by farmers themselves.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges farmers have been facing because of the flooding. All farmers eligible for the initial Farm[ing] Recovery Fund set up in April have been offered a payment,” she said.
“Unfortunately, further commitments around spending and the rollout of schemes is down to the spending review. I’m sure the noble Lords will hear that an awful lot. I think we will all be very glad when it happens and we know where we stand on everything. . . Getting all this right is a difficult balancing act.”
