'Easier to get Glasto tickets than farm funding'

A Kent farmer who lost out on funding for his environmental plans after a government scheme ran out in under six hours said he would have "better luck trying to get Glastonbury tickets".

George Holdstock, a fourth-generation farmer, said applying for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI26) felt "like a lottery or a scramble".

This scheme funds farmers for environmentally friendly land management as part of the post-Brexit replacement of EU farming subsidies.

Farming Minister Stephen Morgan said he was "exploring alternatives to a first-come, first-served application process".

Holdstock, who runs a mixed farm producing apples, potatoes and pumpkins, alongside cattle and sheep in Sturry near Canterbury, said he did not think "it would all have run out" before he had a chance to sit down at his computer.

The second application window closed five hours and 48 minutes after opening, with £253m allocated, he said.

Holdstock told BBC Politics South East he hoped funding would help him plant more trees, leave grassland to seed for birds over winter and trial direct drilling, which involves planting without ploughing and releasing the carbon.

Missing out this year was disappointing, he said, but missing out in the following years could potentially prove disastrous.

Holdstock says he believes a month-long application window, prioritising proposals with the greatest environmental benefits would be fairer.

Anthony Curwen, of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said the process had created hardship for some and mistrust for many.

He said: "Looking after your soil for future generations, improving air quality, improving water quality… that is a public benefit not a subsidy."

Curwen warned interruptions to funding risked undermining environmental progress and the ability to reach the government's target of halting nature's decline by 2030 as set out in the Environment Act 2021.

Farming minister, Stephen Morgan, said: "Farmers will receive almost a third of a billion pounds each year for three years under new SFI26 agreements.

"That's nearly a billion pounds invested in resilient farming. Previously a quarter of funding headed to just 4% of farms making claims.

"That's why this government developed a fairer system to reach more farmers by capping applications at £100,000 and ensured small farms and those new to environmental land management schemes were prioritised."

Acknowledging some farmers' disappointment, Morgan says he is "determined to work closely with farmers as we learn lessons from this year and shape SFI27, including exploring alternatives to a first-come, first-served application process."

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