Burnham announces £65m drought package for English farmers

Farmers in England are being promised a £65m package to help them through the drought – but the government has confirmed the money is being reprioritised from Defra’s existing farming budget.

The package, announced by prime minister Andy Burnham, comes as almost three-quarters (71.3%) of England is now officially in drought, following the driest July on record in England and Wales.

It includes an additional £50m for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), taking its 2026 budget to £290m, and up to £15m for on-farm reservoirs.

The extra SFI funding is expected to feed into the scheme’s second application window, due to open in September.

See also: Welsh farmers urged to tap grants as dry weather bites

The government has not said where within the existing Defra farming budget the money will come from.

For farmers facing failing grass and depleted water supplies, the most immediate change will be greater flexibility in environmental schemes.

SFI, Countryside Stewardship and legacy agreement holders will be able to take practical action where drought makes planned activity impossible without automatically losing payments.

That includes grazing or cutting habitat land normally unavailable until later in the year, provided soils are not damaged. Defra is expected to set out more details shortly.

Water restrictions, however, are not being lifted.

Hands-off flow limits remain in place. The Environment Agency recorded more than 1,500 licence restrictions in the week to 12 August, including Section 57 spray irrigation restrictions affecting 302 licences in East Anglia.

The government says it will instead speed up licence variations and make it easier to share water between holdings.

The £15m reservoir fund will be backed by measures to reduce planning barriers, with further detail expected in an updated National Planning Policy Framework.

Opposition response

Shadow Defra secretary Victoria Atkins said the prime minister had been “slow” to recognise the impact of the drought.

“Andy Burnham has been slow in realising that much of the country has been in drought for weeks, with terrible impacts for future food prices due to poor harvests,” said Ms Atkins.

She said the Conservatives welcomed the government adopting measures they had been calling for, particularly on access to water, but accused ministers of failing to address wider pressures on family farms.

“In reality, Labour are overseeing record farm closures, cutting the farming budget by £100m and slapping new death and fertiliser taxes on family farms,” she said.

Industry reaction

Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, welcomed the SFI funding and environmental flexibility, saying farmers should use the forthcoming SFI window to build “soil health and a resilient landscape”.

He described the reservoir announcement as “a first step”, adding: “Farmers cannot carry all of the risk of a changing climate on their shoulders.

“We need the whole food system supporting farmers to build more resilient businesses for the future.”

Country Land and Business Association president Gavin Lane welcomed the drought package but warned it was “little more than a temporary fix”. He said the £15m reservoir fund was a positive step but would cover only a fraction of the infrastructure needed.

The Countryside Alliance external affairs director Mo Metcalf-Fisher said drought and wildfires were causing misery in the countryside, stressing that rural communities had been “crying out for support for weeks”.

“It’s essential the prime minister now listens to those impacted and acts fast,” he added.

“We need to see much more co-operation between politicians in Westminster and those who actually know and work the land like farmers and gamekeepers.”

Burnham farm visit

The prime minister and Defra farming minister Stephen Morgan are due to visit a farm in the South West on Saturday (15 August) to see first-hand the impact of the drought.

Mr Burnham is expected to acknowledge the financial pressure facing farmers, pointing to lower incomes, rising costs and the lack of rain.

He is also expected to describe domestic food production as a matter of “national security” and say farmers should not have to bear the risks of a changing climate alone.

The visit follows a Cobra meeting chaired by Mr Burnham on Wednesday (12 August) to discuss the response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought.

The government has already announced plans to support the development of nine new reservoirs, strengthen the country’s water infrastructure and improve resilience to future droughts, floods and extreme weather.