Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase support for farmers to mitigate the impacts of crops (a) lost and (b) not planted due to wet weather.

The Farming Recovery Fund is a contribution towards uninsured costs that have likely been incurred in re-establishing productive, farmable land in areas significantly damaged by water, caused by flooding from Storms Babet and Henk or exceptional rainfall during October 2023 to March 2024.

In May Defra introduced a package of temporary adjustments and easements within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), SFI Pilot, Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship to support farmers and land managers dealing with the impacts of severe wet weather in England.

[Essentially, if bad weather has caused disruptions to farming activities or affected a farmer’s ability to meet the mandatory requirements set out in live agreements, the adjustments allow more time to establish or defer some activity to later in the year.] A full list of these adjustments can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wet-weather-temporary-support-for-farmers-in-2024 .