A Lake District landscape charity is calling on the Government to help protect farmers in Cumbria.
Friends of the Lake District has written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to highlight the perilous future facing farming in Cumbria, especially among upland hill farmers.
Ahead of the Government’s spending review later this month, the landscape charity has called for the agricultural budget to be protected from cuts, and increased, to reflect the wide range of services that farming provides to society.
It said: “Doubling the agricultural budget will both incentivise nature-friendly farming and recognise the huge public value that the agricultural sector can provide for health and wellbeing, access and recreation, and cultural heritage.”
It added there had been a reported underspend on agri-environment within Defra in recent years, but that was because farmers had been reluctant to apply when there was so little detail on the range of new schemes and options available.
It added: “Funding is key to keeping farmers farming the uplands, in return providing, alongside food security, so many of the public goods that make our uplands valuable such as: maintaining and creating habitats; reducing flood risk; providing access to open spaces; rural skills such as hedging and walling; and contributing to their local economies and communities.”
The charity is also calling for simple schemes that pay on time for Cumbrian farmers.
Farmers are still waiting for guidance and an opening date to apply for funding such as the Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship, and details about other endorsed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) actions. Upland farmers urgently need this information, Friends of the Lake District says, so that they have certainty and can plan for the future of their businesses.
Friends of the Lake District also wants support for commons and commoners. A third of all common land in England is found in Cumbria and, with their centuries-old traditions, they form a key part of the English Lake District World Heritage Site designation.
Defra has acknowledged that commons were a vital part of the farming sector and played a particularly important role in many of England’s beautiful, protected landscapes.
The charity said: “And yet, upland commons stand to lose 80% of their farm business income by 2028, with the phasing out of direct payments. Commoners are still waiting on specific options under the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) which pays farmers and land managers to provide environmental goods and services alongside food production.”
Michael Hill, CEO of Friends of the Lake District, said: “Nature is in crisis, we’re living through a climate emergency, and we know the health benefits of getting out in the countryside. Here in Cumbria the answer to all those things lies with our farmers, because 75% of our county is farmed land.
“In our letter we’re urging Defra to seize the opportunity and deliver a Budget that rewards upland hill farmers properly for the public benefits they provide, via simplified schemes which pay on time.”
Maddy Teasdale, of Ullswater Catchment Management CIC, who works with upland farmers and who is from a farming family, added: “Farmers want to boost biodiversity and nature recovery on their farms but need support and long-term business security to enable them to do this. Increased investment from Defra will ensure farmers can continue to farm productively, and in a nature-friendly way, to help protect our environment and landscapes for the future.”
