One year on: Farming Recovery Fund helps 1100 struggling farmers affected by storms with £9m fund

Farmers stress that more action needs to be taken
Farmers stress that more action needs to be taken

One year on from the launch of the Farming Recovery Fund the initiative has received over 1,100 applications, which have totalled over £9 million.

The fund, which helps farmers with drain and boundary repair as well as reseeding, was created after Storm Desmond devastated large parts of rural Northern England last December.

Richard Bramley, an arable farmer and member of the NFU environment forum, said to FarmingUK that the fund had 'definitely been a good thing' and helped out with the costs of the extensive storm damage.

He said: “The fact that we have the farming recovery fund is something that is very much welcomed. I think it’s important that this is now available in flooding when it happens again, because there is no doubt that it will happen."

Although this year hasn’t seen a repeat of last winter’s devastation, Richard warned that last year’s storms showed that there were real issues and that the Government had to 'think and act very differently.'

And although he welcomed the Government’s response over the last twelve months, he stressed that more action needed to be taken.

Bracing for another winter

However, NFU Deputy President Minette Batters said it was extremely frustrating that hundreds of farmers were bracing themselves for another winter while still waiting for funding to help recover from the previous one.

Miss Batters said Storm Desmond and the subsequent flooding brought 'devastation' to farming businesses and many are still feeling the effects.

She said: “Farmers have faced months of uncertainty over access to the flood recovery fund, piled on top of delays to their annual farm payments. This is totally unacceptable and must be resolved as a matter of urgency.

“Scotland and Northern Ireland had their farming recovery funds done and dusted by the middle of 2016. So why are so many farmers in England being forced to wait for their emergency funding? The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) created some delays when processing the original applications.

“But we appreciate that they are still waiting to receive claims from affected farmers partly due to the high level of evidence farmers are required to submit."

'Whole catchment approach'

Early next year, the NFU will be launching its flooding manifesto. This will set out policy asks and action for government and others to mitigate flood risk in the future.

Miss Batters continued: “We believe a whole catchment approach to flood management must be adopted. This includes accurate consideration of the importance of the food and farming industry – one that contributes £108bn to the economy, employing more than 1 in 8 people of the workforce.

“Some of our most productive and highest value agricultural land is in the floodplain or coastal regions, vulnerable to flooding, and deserves to be protected.

“Natural flood management schemes do have a place and Defra Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom’s recent confirmation that £15million will be assigned for natural flood management is a step towards finding such a scheme.

“However, they are not a universal solution and must be used alongside a package of measures across the catchment to improve flood resilience to both urban and rural communities, including traditional hard-engineered structures and their maintenance."