CLA urges government to raise budget to meet targets
© Adobe Stock The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is urging the new Labour government to “put its money where its mouth is” and significantly increase the UK agriculture budget.
The CLA is calling for the budget to rise from the current £2.4bn a year to £3.8bn/year in England, with a £1bn budget in Wales, and has now set out a detailed analysis of why this is important.
The current budget has remained unchanged since 2014, despite inflation and growing concerns about food security and environmental challenges.
See also: Analysis – what would a Labour government do for food and farming?
The CLA is highlighting the need for sustained investment in food and farming businesses to achieve long-term growth in the rural economy and meet environmental targets.
Post-Brexit, the UK has been moving away from direct support towards a system where payments are made for public goods, such as improving soil health, enhancing wildlife habitats, managing floods, and providing access to nature.
The CLA argues that without an increased budget, farmers will struggle to meet the government’s environmental ambitions and food security goals.
‘Time for budget reset’
CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “Landowners can feed the nation and improve the environment – but they can’t do it on a shoestring budget.
“Now is the time for a budget reset. Without the right economic, regulatory and political conditions, farmers will be unable to deliver on the multitude of societal demands that ultimately fall on them.”
The CLA’s proposal centres on three key programmes (PDF):
- Environmental Land Management (ELM): This is expected to be the primary channel for incentivising sustainable farming practices and meeting the targets set by the Environment Act, with an estimated cost of £1.5bn by 2027-28
- Nature for Climate: Focused on initiatives like woodland creation and peatland restoration
- Rural Productivity, Resilience, and Food Security: Covering advancements in technology, skills, training, research, and innovation in agriculture.
The Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) is being phased out and while it was worth £1.84bn in 2020 it will fall to £480m in 2025-26 and disappear completely by 2028-29.
The CLA stresses that as the BPS is phased out, the UK government must ensure that farming businesses do not face a financial shortfall.
The landowners’ association supports the shift towards sustainable agriculture, but insists that the government needs to provide adequate financial backing to ensure the success of these initiatives.
The NFU says a UK agriculture budget of £5.5bn/year (compared with £3.7bn now) is required to underpin food production and deliver for the environment.
The Labour government has remained tight-lipped about its funding plans for agriculture, but chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her party’s fiscal plans in its first Budget on 30 October.