A new poll reveals that the vast majority of farmers would revert to intensive farming methods if financial backing for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes is withdrawn.
The survey of 460 farmers, conducted by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), has been published on the eve of the government’s highly-anticipated spending review.
It found that nearly all of the farmer respondents (95%) would reduce the amount of land managed for environmental benefits without continued support.
According to media reports, the Treasury is planning to scale back support for the post-Brexit Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including SFI and CS.
It will form part of a broader wave of departmental cuts, with police, social housing, and environmental funding among those expected to be hit hardest.
The CLA's poll highlighted deep scepticism towards Labour, with 98% of farmers believing the party neither understands nor respects rural communities.
Additionally, 76% said they cannot fully fund the land management actions required by their SFI or CS agreements unaided.
The findings come amid growing concern from several high-profile organisations, including the NFU, CLA, the National Trust and the Soil Association, over the proposed cuts to the budget.
Ahead of the spending review on Wednesday (11 June), these groups sent a joint letter to farming minister Daniel Zeichner, warning of the serious consequences budget reductions would have on the environment.
The letter cautions that any decrease in funding would be "catastrophic" for the government’s environmental goals.
It states: "Numerous natural features found in the countryside and enjoyed by the public would be at risk and could vanish, leaving a disappointing legacy for this administration."
With 77,000 live agri-environment scheme agreements, the oldest of which have run for decades, the "unprecedented engagement in the SFI is testament to the appetite farmers and land managers to rise to the challenge and do more."
Since its launch in 2022, the SFI has supported over 37,000 farms in delivering environmental outcomes such as healthier soils, cleaner water, and increased habitats for wildlife.
Defra’s own figures show that 75,000km of hedgerows are currently being actively managed under the scheme, contributing to biodiversity, carbon storage and improved water management.
CLA vice president, Joe Evans emphasised the importance of preserving funding for these schemes: “The SFI is a brilliant policy - it’s good for the farmer, the environment, the consumer and the government.
"It is one of the most ambitious, forward-thinking agricultural schemes in the world, and we can see from the sheer variety of nature returning to our farmland that it is working.
"If funding is withdrawn from the schemes, almost all our farmers will have no choice but to return to intensive farming - and it will become the latest betrayal from a government that promised it was here to help, not make things worse.”
James Cameron, a farmer based in East Kennett, Wiltshire, warned of the impact of cuts on his business: “Our entire financial model depends on this scheme. If funding is cut, it will be disastrous.
"We can’t afford to fund all this work ourselves, and the private sector simply isn’t there yet. We may have no choice but to re-adopt intensive farming practices just to stay afloat.
“Farming is already an uncertain enough business. We need a government that brings stability, not one that plays policy roulette and makes it impossible to operate at every turn.”
