WINTER floods cost farmers £480 per hectare: a “staggering loss”, for which they needed practical, long-term support, the Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, told the House of Lords last week, in a debate that he had secured on flood prevention.
Businesses and livelihoods were under threat, and time pressure was critical, he said, describing farmers as “the bedrock of our nation”. England had had 95 per cent more rain in September than on average. With farmland flooded, the bottom saturated, poor harvests, and crops unattainable to plant, the Government needed urgently to roll out the expanded offer of the Farming Recovery Fund.
“The fund is designed to support farmers to revive their land to the condition it was in prior to flooding, with the intention to secure food supply, which, this Government have repeatedly assured us, is a key priority,” he said.
“Rural landowners and farmers provide a critical service in the shape of natural flood management when their lands flood, and so they do that by storing water. Farmers have to be properly compensated for providing this public service, not only for the fee of restoring this land to make use of for food production, but for the fee of lost income.”
The Bishop noted confirmation by the Secretary of State for DEFRA, Steve Reed, that no rollout of the fund could occur until the spending review was complete. “I regret that it ought to be delayed for therefore long, and stress that each week it’s delayed, farmers and their businesses are suffering,” he said. “Can the Minister confirm that the expanded offer will likely be launched as soon as possible following completion of the spending review?”
In calling for a mutually agreed technique to allow farmers to plan and prepare for flood storage, Dr Smith referred to the instance of a Keswick hill farmer facing the dilemma whether to affix a flood management scheme.
“If he entered his bottom valley field into the scheme, he would not have suitable grazing or haymaking land, and fodder would have to be brought in, which raises concerns about availability, price, and quality,” the Bishop said. “This is what individuals are actually facing: the day-by-day reality of how they’re going to make their farms viable.”
The Bishop welcomed the Government’s recent Floods Resilience Taskforce and its pledge to speed up the development of flood defences, drainage systems, and natural flood schemes. But he also referred to the state of disrepair in existing defences, consequent on 20 years of decreased revenue and cuts to the Environment Agency’s revenue budget.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DEFRA, Baroness Hayman, paid tribute to the Bishop’s longstanding commitment to supporting British farmers, and to the pivotal part played by farmers themselves.
“We are aware of the challenges farmers have been facing due to flooding. All farmers eligible for the initial Farm[ing] Recovery Fund arrange in April have been offered a payment,” she said.
“Unfortunately, further commitments around spending and the rollout of schemes is right down to the spending review. I’m sure the noble Lords will hear that an awful lot. I believe we’ll all be very glad when it happens and we all know where we stand on the whole lot. . . Getting all this right is a difficult balancing act.”
