BIAC has joined forces with the CLA and a coalition of other leading rural and environmental organisations in signing a joint letter to the government, expressing serious concern over potential cuts to the agricultural budget expected to be revealed in tomorrow’s Budget announcement by the Chancellor.
The letter, addressed to Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, urges the government to maintain its commitment to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. These schemes represent a cornerstone of the UK’s strategy to fund sustainable land management practices that deliver public goods such as cleaner water, improved biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and greater access to green spaces.
BIAC Chair Wendy Jenkins, alongside senior figures from the NFU, RSPB, National Trust, and several other organisations, underscored the catastrophic impact that any reduction in ELM funding would have. The signatories warn that diminishing support at this stage of the agricultural transition could jeopardise decades of environmental progress and undermine the confidence of thousands of farmers and land managers currently participating in agri-environment schemes.
With the Chancellor’s Budget announcement due tomorrow, BIAC joins its peers in calling for firm assurances that the current level of funding for ELM and other sustainable farming initiatives will be upheld. A failure to do so, the letter stresses, would threaten not only the government’s environmental targets but also the very fabric of the rural economy and landscape.
We will share further updates with members following the official Budget statement.