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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of this financial year's farming budget has been committed.

The Government’s farming schemes are demand-led and many give farmers flexibility on when they claim, and in some cases, what they claim each year. This enables farmers to implement agreements that suit their businesses and helps the Government meet its ambitions for sustainable food production and the environment.

This means the proportion of the Farming Budget committed at any point in the year does not provide a complete picture of anticipated spend. Defra retains flexibility to allocate funding to schemes within year to maximise scheme uptake and use of the budget rather than setting rigid allocations.

The department will publish the Farming Annual Report covering 2026/27 around September 2027.