‘Medway farms risk going out of business’ – say local Lib Dems

New figures reveal only a tiny fraction of slashed EU subsidies went to agriculture businesses last year. The government last year launched of the sustainable farming incentive (SFI). This paid farmers for looking after their soil. Last year, subsidies were cut by an average of 22% for farmers, only 0.44% of the promised budget was spent on SFI.

This year, the government is planning to slash payments by 36%. These cuts to post-Brexit farming payments could mean Kent and Medway farms risk going out of business.

Alan Wells, Medway Liberal Democrats candidate for Strood Rural said, "Last year I sent a survey to farmers across the Strood Rural

ward. The feedback we received raised concerns about the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) for farmers. They told us that direct payments must stay until the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme can be fully rolled out in 2028, as they cannot afford to lose half their BPS income over the next five years.

As a result of the Government's plan to replace BPS with the ELM scheme, farmers are expected to lose half their current payments, which is deeply concerning. Tory MPs have once again shown that they are not prepared to act in the interests of our local farmers. I am calling on Parliament to protect and support our agricultural communities and food producers."

Medway Liberal Democrats are looking at the future of Medway farming and we know that they are ready to deliver high quality, sustainable food produced in harmony with the environment and animal welfare. Yet time and time again this Conservative Government has badly let down farmers and rural communities. We want to maintain existing farm payments in full until the ELM scheme is ready and tested.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson said, "These figures show that the Conservatives have broken their promise to farmers to keep farm funding at CAP levels. They have rushed to cut basic payments and failed to deliver the new schemes on time. This will lead to farmers going out of business, which means that we will fail to deliver vital environmental goals. It's hard to know if this is incompetence or deliberate betrayal of our rural communities, but they amount to the same thing."

New analysis reveals farming income in the South of England has fallen by £61 million in just one year. One of the many things that makes Medway so special is its rich agricultural heritage, it is part of who we are. We want to increase support, reduce bureaucracy and open up new markets, to ensure that Medway's agricultural industries have a positive future. There's a real need to ensure that rural and agricultural voices are heard and Medway Liberal Democrats want that conversation.

ENDS

Notes for Editors and additional text:

Data revealed to the Observer under the Freedom of Information Act from the Rural Payments Agency shows that a total of £10,692,415 was paid out under the sustainable farming incentive scheme in the 2022 calendar year. This is out of a budget of £2.4bn, meaning only 0.44% was spent on the new schemes. Farmers have said that in the last financial year, they are noticing an underspend of £100 million, with money missing from the rural community.