Campaigner pushes for basic income scheme for farmers

Basic Income for Farmers (BI4Farmers), a campaigner advocating for economic stability in the farming sector, has written to the MP Zeichner following the government’s abrupt decision to cap and pause new SFI applications.

The letter, co-signed by farmers from around England, as well as Green Party and Labour MPs, highlights the financial uncertainty now facing farmers, farmworkers, and food producers in the country — many of whom had already incorporated expected SFI payments into their financial planning.

The decision to limit SFI applications has already been met with widespread concern from farming organisations.

BI4Farmers and co-signatories argue that this move undermines confidence in post-Brexit subsidy schemes, particularly for small-scale and agroecological farmers who were finally gaining access to crucial financial support.

The letter calls for:

• An immediate expansion of the SFI budget to allow more farmers to access support.

• A reopening of applications to prevent further financial insecurity in the sector.

• Exploration of a basic income for all agricultural workers, ensuring long-term stability for those who produce the nation’s food.

‘Pattern of uncertainty and exclusion’

Previous research from BI4Farmers and the Autonomy Institute has demonstrated the urgent need for guaranteed financial support in farming, with current agricultural subsidies failing to provide the stability required for a resilient and sustainable food system.

The campaigner claims that basic income for farmers would ensure that those who feed the UK are not left in economic limbo due to sudden policy changes.

Joanna Poulton, campaign lead at BI4Farmers, said: “Farmers were promised that post-Brexit subsidy schemes would provide financial security. Instead, we’ve seen a pattern of uncertainty and exclusion.

“The government must act now to restore trust and ensure a just and sustainable future for UK farming through a basic income scheme.”

Amelia Greenway from Springwater Farm highlighted how small-scale farmers will be left with no government support at all: “Receiving SFI payments would have helped deliver financial stability for our small farm.

“SFI would have finally rewarded us financially for the standard of farming we deliver. Now that has been scrapped, there is no financial security for us going forward. It’s been a real blow. We don’t know where we’re going to go.

“There’s going to be many farmers going out of business in the next few years because of this, and there’s many farms that will now not be able to transition into more sustainable ways of farming because they don’t have the financial stability to do so”

Jonathan Smith, an organic farmer on the Isles of Scilly, added that British farmers need a basic income to survive.

“In my 22 years of experience, it is really hard to make a profit with vegetables. Historically there has been very little support from the state, and many of us farmers have to have two or more other jobs just to provide enough income for ourselves and our families.

“We were finally going to get some support from the SFI payments, and now that has been pulled. It shouldn’t be that hard; we should have a basic income so we can afford to live.”

BI4Farmers has requested a meeting with the minister for food security and rural affairs to discuss solutions, including the viability of a basic income for farmers, as part of a fairer and more sustainable agricultural support system.

Read the open letter here.

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