Soil Association responds to Defra budget cut announced in the Chancellor's spending review
The Chancellor's spending review has today revealed that spending in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been cut in real terms by 2.7% a year.
Soil Association Director of Policy Brendan Costelloe said: “The farming and nature settlement will have been hard won by Defra ministers, but it still amounts to real term cuts and it will now be even harder for the Government to reach its environmental targets. Given the scale of the challenge, it's more critical than ever that spending is targeted at those areas that do most to deliver transformational change.
"We want the Government to treat food system transformation as seriously as it treats the green energy transition. This means continued support in SFI for regenerating soils – the ‘renewable energy’ of the food system.
"Building soil fertility allows farmers to reduce their dependency on harmful chemicals, and it lays the foundations for a widespread transition to nature-friendly farming. Increased investment in agroforestry can also play a critical role in building farm resilience and national food security, by helping to protect farms from the increasing impacts of climate change.
“The Government also needs to support farmers who do the most to improve the environment and give animals the highest standards of welfare. This means continued support for organic farming, including the urgent reinstatement of transition support for the increasing numbers of farmers who want to convert to organic. It is also vital that farmers are given the support and tools necessary to benchmark and monitor environmental outcomes on their farms.”