Farm on the M62: Shambles shows disdain for farmers - Jill Thorp
It has been not only the most testing of weeks but also, as it turned out the most frustrating and demoralising for farmers the length and breadth of the country. The Sustainable Farming Incentive opened it’s application last Tuesday and as is often the case, fastest finger won. The allocation was spent in just under six hours. Six hours of farmers desperately trying to navigate a system that was not set up for them, six hours of the system crashing whilst applicants frantically tried to understand the process.
God forbid there were any emergencies on the farm, a cow having a long and difficult calving or a veterinary visit that had to be done that day. And if you were one of the unfortunate ones with poor signal or no wi-fi, then tough luck. This was not a level playing field and has put farmers under enormous financial strain. For those farming on common land; you were not welcome and unable to apply. It is very difficult for me to be able to begin to convey the depth of anger and overwhelming worry that many farmers now face following this absolute shambles of an application system.
The number of farmers that will have been tearing their hair out and wondering what else can go wrong, doesn’t bear thinking about. It’s important to be very clear about what the SFI payment is. It is not a handout, not a freebie to farmers. Quite the opposite. The SFI has replaced the Basic Payment Scheme which since Brexit has slowly been phased out. The payment is to assist with the implementation of environmental schemes whilst boosting food production.
For example, establishing hedgerows, agroforestry, the planting of winter cover crops, herbal leys and flower rich margins. A reduction in the use of pesticides, land and soil nutrient reviews across each farm. It is to protect and enhance the environment whilst allowing farmers to do what we do best; produce high quality, high welfare food. But whilst all of this may sound very good on paper and many farmers have for many years being farming sympathetically alongside nature and the environment, the SFI and the entire application process has failed spectacularly.
Watching the fast dwindling support from our government and the complete lack of understanding or more importantly acknowledgement for our incredibly hard working sector has been a bitter pill to swallow. Food is the one thing we quite simply cannot live without. It is essential for survival and to prioritise our production of it whilst ensuring nature has a helping hand and doesn’t suffer whilst we continue to exist, should be an absolute no brainer.
The helplines are once again flooded, desperate, angry and hopeless voices pleading for help. What an utter atrocity to treat our farmers with such disdain. I am in no doubt that those that sit behind their donation tins with six figure salary board members have come out of this smiling. They will have had their application forms well and truly accepted and stamped whilst the rest of us were still battling through the first page.
As I sit and wonder about this latest fiasco, the first skein of geese come into view. Heard long before they’re seen, I marvel at their shaped flight formation, shared leadership providing support and protection. How simple and perfect this is. The teamwork ensures no one, not the old, nor sick is left behind. We have a lot to learn from them.