Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and Daniel Zeichner

Thursday 4th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Given the Secretary of State’s love of Dorset, I would love to invite him to Mid Dorset, where Goodens farm is doing some really innovative things on very small family farms, especially with manure. Mr Randall, who runs that farm, joined the sustainable farming incentive last year, which enabled him to start growing a new crop—herbal leys. Because climate change is making farming so tough, he is trying everything he can to keep his business going. The SFI allowed him to take that risk, but it is no longer available to him. As he put it, we need farm security if we want food security, so what steps is the Minister taking to look after farmers on our very smallest farms, who are critical to food production?

[Daniel Zeichner]

There was a lot in that question. The hon. Lady is absolutely right that herbal leys have been very effective, and many people have seen the impact they have had during the dry weather. It is also interesting that these schemes are now available to much smaller enterprises than they ever were under the previous schemes. There is much that can be done, and we are redesigning the schemes to make them work towards achieving exactly the outcomes that the hon. Lady is seeking.

Sustainable Farming Incentive

Debate between Vikki Slade and Daniel Zeichner

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

I was going to say that I was grateful for the hon. Member’s question, but I am not sure that I am. I invite him to come and talk to people who are engaged in nature-friendly farming, who benefit from these schemes and who are undertaking the transition, for which I give the previous Government credit for starting. We wanted to move away from the common agricultural policy to a new system. That is what we are doing. The schemes were not designed well enough, and we are now addressing that.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I was contacted by members of the Great Big Dorset Hedge initiative three weeks ago, who told me that capital grants under SFI had already been frozen. Can the Minister confirm when the decision to close was actually made, whether applications submitted will be granted and how long applicants will have to wait? As farmers are already obliged to improve hedges with more than 10% gaps under their agreements, how will they access funding to do so to enable their existing funding to be maintained?

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Lady raises an important set of points. We now have 75,000 km of hedgerow within these schemes. The basic point is that we have a fixed budget and, just as with the capital grants, when they are spent, they are spent. Another set of grants will be available, and I invite her constituents to apply at that point. We cannot get away from the fact that there is not an endless supply of money. We have to work within the budgets.