NFU calls out ‘major issues’ with flooding fund launched earlier this week
11th April 2024
The NFU has just issued a statement pointing out “major issues” with the newly announced Farming Recovery Fund, which aimed to help farmers devastated by Storm Henk in January.
NFU vice president Rachel Hallos said: “We are hearing from numerous members who have suffered catastrophic impacts who have been told they are not eligible for the fund because some of their affected areas are more than 150 meters from ‘main’ rivers.
“These include members with 90% of their land saturated or underwater, and huge damage to buildings and equipment.
“We are taking this up with Defra urgently. I cannot believe this is what ministers intended when they launched the fund, which was a welcome and well-intentioned development which seems to have been fundamentally let down in the detail.
“While the impact of the weather goes far beyond Storm Henk, this could have been a good start but, as it stands, it simply doesn’t work.”
Flooding fund opened to support affected farmers
The government said that eligible farmers can access grants of between £500 and £25,000 to cover recultivation costs and return their land to the condition it was in before exceptional flooding due to Storm Henk.
They will be contacted directly by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) outlining the support available to them through the Farming Recovery Fund and how they can make a claim.
Important update
On 11th April Defra issued an update that following feedback from farmers, the eligibility criteria for the scheme has been updated to fully remove the 150m limit.
Farming minister Mark Spencer said: “We want to make sure the Farming Recovery Fund offers the support farmers need to recover from uninsurable damage.
“It’s why we’ve immediately listened and responded to feedback on the launch of the initial phase of this scheme, fully removing the 150m limit. This means that farmers will be able to receive payments for all land parcels which are flooded contiguous to an eligible river.
“We’ll continue to listen to farmers and look at how we can expand the scheme and improve support for those affected.”
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