Flooding: Defra backtracks on farmer flood fund after many not eligible for help despite being under water

But, originally, only fields within 150 metres of a main river that had flooded were eligible for the compensation, leading to complaints from farmers.

After initially welcoming the move, NFU vice president, Rachel Hallos, spoke out after the NFU was contacted by farmers who were flooded but were not eligible for help via the scheme.

She said: “It has very quickly become clear that there are major issues with the newly-announced Farming Recovery Fund, which aimed to help farmers devastated by Storm Henk in January.

“We are hearing from numerous members who have suffered catastrophic impacts who have been told they are not eligible for the fund because some of their affected areas are more than 150 metres from ‘main’ rivers. These include members with 90 per cent of their land saturated or under water, and huge damage to buildings and equipment.

“We are taking this up with Defra urgently. I cannot believe this is what Ministers intended when they launched the fund, which was a welcome and well-intentioned development which seems to have been fundamentally let down in the detail. While the impact of the weather goes far beyond Storm Henk, this could have been a good start but, as it stands, it simply doesn’t work.”

The areas where farmers can apply are those which Defra deems to have had the worst floods and are Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, West Northamptonshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

Eligibility for funding in Berkshire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk and Derbyshire is under review, Defra added.

Meanwhile, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said even before the distance limit was lifted, that the fund “was too little too late”.

CLA acting director North, Henk Geertsema, said: “Farmers have been pushed to the limit by Storm Henk, and while the fund is welcome, it risks being too little too late. It is also a kick in the teeth for farmers up and down the country who are not deemed eligible for this funding support.

“After a three-month void in communications from Defra, farmers still have no clarity on what ‘recultivation’ encompasses, whether they can make claims retrospectively, and what criteria makes the grant available.

“The continued wet weather will have a dire impact on both arable and livestock farmers’ ability to produce food, which in turn will lead to limited and costlier choices on supermarket shelves.”

Farming minister, Mark Spencer, said: “We want to make sure the Farming Recovery Fund offers the support farmers need to recover from uninsurable damage.

“It’s why we’ve immediately listened and responded to feedback on the launch of the initial phase of this scheme, fully removing the 150m limit.

“This means that farmers will be able to receive payments for all land parcels which are flooded contiguous to an eligible river. We’ll continue to listen to farmers.”