Across the English countryside this winter, thousands of farmers are facing a crisis that few outside the agricultural world even know is happening. At the stroke of midnight on 31 December 2025, 5,830 Countryside Stewardship agreements — long-running nature and land management contracts — will end. And this time, there is no safety net.
For many farmers, this feels less like a policy oversight and more like a deliberate abandonment.
The Cliff Edge: Payments Stopped, No Replacement Ready
For decades, Stewardship agreements have underpinned Britain’s environmental work: hedgerows preserved, wildflower strips planted, pesticides reduced, and habitats protected.
Now, with the schemes ending, farmers like David Barton of Gloucestershire are left stranded. His verdict is damning:
> “Never before has one scheme run out before another one was up and running.”
The supposed replacement — the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) — was shut to new applicants earlier this year after its budget ran dry. Farmers who had planned to transfer across have simply been left in limbo.
Farmers Under Pressure
The situation couldn’t come at a worse time. Yields are down, prices are falling, and supermarket contracts are squeezing margins to the bone. Warwickshire farmer Mark Meadows called it a “double whammy”:
Poor harvests and falling farmgate prices.
The loss of environmental payments that many farms rely on.
Running a modern farm is already a balancing act between producing affordable food and meeting ever-expanding environmental targets. Cutting funding mid-stream risks tearing up decades of progress overnight.
Why Farmers Feel Persecuted
It isn’t just the money — it’s the message. Farmers are told:
Protect biodiversity, but pay for it yourself.
Compete with cheap imports, but follow higher standards.
Feed the nation, but surrender prime farmland to solar panels and battery storage schemes.
In short, government policy has made farming everyone’s priority except the government’s.
That is why so many farmers now use the word “persecution.” Because what else do you call it when the very people producing our food are undermined at every turn?
The Bigger Picture: Food vs Net Zero
Since Brexit, ministers promised a “better system” than the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. Instead, they delivered chaos.
Farming budgets frozen or cut.
Environmental schemes scrapped before their replacements exist.
Vast tracts of farmland diverted to corporate-backed solar and battery projects, while food production is sidelined.
This is not joined-up policy. It is short-termism dressed up as environmentalism — and it is leaving farmers without support, without security, and without respect.
Why It Matters to Everyone
This is not just a farmers’ issue. When environmental schemes collapse:
Hedgerows go unmaintained.
Fields revert to intensive chemical use.
Wildlife habitats are lost.
Food security is undermined.
The public will pay the price through higher food imports, greater environmental damage, and increased reliance on unstable global markets.
What Needs to Happen
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has written to farming minister Daniel Zeichner demanding urgent action. Their call is simple:
Extend current Countryside Stewardship agreements for at least one year.
Provide a clear, funded roadmap for future support.
Stop treating farmers as expendable in the race for Net Zero optics.
As NFU deputy president David Exwood put it:
> “Defra must provide a clear plan for their future, and urgently.”
Conclusion: A Betrayal of Trust
Farmers are the backbone of our nation’s food supply and stewards of our countryside. To cut them adrift at a time of falling prices, global instability, and climate pressure is reckless.
The government says it is “considering” how best to deliver for farmers and the environment. But farmers don’t need words. They need certainty, funding, and respect.
If Britain wants secure food, thriving wildlife, and a living countryside, it must end the persecution of its farmers — before it’s too late.
SAY NO TO THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR LAND 
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