'Mistakes made' over subsidies for farmers

THE new Environment Secretary has admitted to MPs that “mistakes were made” over subsidy payments to farmers this year.

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Emma Reynolds, who replaced Steve Reed during September's Cabinet reshuffle, was quizzed by the Commons Environment Select Committee (Efra) on Tuesday about her vision for agriculture after the Government faced a fierce and ongoing backlash from farmers.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to introduce inheritance tax for agricultural properties and businesses worth more than £1 million last year became a political flashpoint for an industry already grappling with a faster phaseout of EU-era subsidies in favour of environmental payments, as well as dwindling margins and climate change impacts.

In March, the Environment Department (Defra) caused more uproar when it abruptly closed applications to the sustainable farming incentive (SFI) - the biggest strand of the environmental land management scheme (Elms) that pays farmers in England for “public goods” such as insecticide-free farming, wildflower strips and managing ponds and hedgerows.

Ministers said the funding was fully allocated for the year but later apologised for confusion and allowed thousands of farmers who had already started their SFI applications to apply for funding.