Farmers face growing uncertainty over how they are expected to manage land sustainably, as none of England’s Environmental Land Management schemes are currently open to new applicants and future funding remains unclear.
As the farming sector gathers in Oxford this week for its major annual conferences, concern is mounting that delays to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes are leaving businesses without a clear pathway to plan ahead.
Vicki Hird, strategic lead for agriculture at the Wildlife Trusts, said progress has stalled since the arrival of a new ministerial team, despite broad backing across the sector for nature-friendly farming approaches.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), widely seen as the most accessible of the three schemes, was paused in March 2025, triggering frustration among farmers who had expected it to provide a reliable source of support.
The pause has meant that funding for many environmental practices is currently unavailable, at a time when farm businesses are already under pressure from rising costs, volatile prices and increasingly extreme weather.
While the government was right to review a scheme that needed strengthening, the Wildlife Trusts said the process must be clearer in future to avoid sudden financial cliff edges for farmers.
Countryside Stewardship, which requires higher levels of environmental delivery, continues to be limited by budget constraints and administrative capacity, and is not open to all farmers.
The extension of existing agreements has been welcomed as a way of preventing funding gaps for those already delivering more ambitious outcomes, but questions remain over long-term continuity and wider access.
Landscape Recovery schemes, designed to support large-scale projects involving multiple land managers, have the potential to deliver significant benefits for nature recovery and flood management.
However, concerns over complex contracts and uncertainty around long-term funding risk undermining confidence in a scheme that relies on collaboration and long-term commitment.
With all three ELM schemes closed to new applications, farmers and landowners are left without a clear framework for investment and business planning.
Although Defra has successfully protected overall farm budgets, campaigners warn that funding levels remain insufficient to meet the government’s own legally binding environmental targets.
Independent analysis published in 2024 on behalf of the Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB and the National Trust concluded that at least £3.1 billion a year is needed for nature-friendly farming and land management in England, compared with an average spend of £2.5 billion, a gap that is likely to have widened due to inflation.
Attention will now turn to the Secretary of State’s speech at the Oxford farming conference on 8 January. Ms Hird said ministers must set out a clear long-term commitment to all three schemes, backed by greater investment in training, advice and collaboration, to allow farmers to plan with confidence.
“The disastrous uncertainties of the last few years must end,” she said, arguing that nature-friendly farming can help businesses become more resilient while delivering public benefits such as cleaner rivers, reduced flood risk, improved water storage during drought and nature recovery.
Environmental campaigners also stressed that ELM schemes must continue to deliver clear value for money for taxpayers and should not be diluted into simple income support.
With key policy decisions expected in the coming months, farmers will be watching closely for signals that provide certainty on funding, scheme design and the long-term role of environmental delivery within profitable farm businesses.
