The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that the Fruit & Vegetables Aid Scheme will end in England on 1 January 2026, leaving existing Producer Organisations (POs) facing an uncertain future.
While this deadline does not come as a surprise, Producer Organisations and British Growers had been lobbying the government to extend the scheme for a period of up to three years until details of any replacement support for horticulture could be implemented, to prevent a ‘cliff edge’ and uncertainty leading to the unwinding of successful POs before a new scheme is unveiled.
While this has been the stance adopted by the devolved administrations, Gill Laishley, Defra’s deputy director for farming & primary processing wrote to all POs on 12 March saying that legislation ‘prevents the extension of existing programmes’ and that ‘the Government will not be continuing that model of support.’
She added, “Defra’s approach to future funding for horticulture will be considered alongside the work to simplify and rationalise agricultural grant funding… We are working with Devolved Governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to explore the cross-border issues for POs that straddle nations.
However, many existing POs (and independent growers) are wary of any scheme which is over reliant on capital grants. Speaking just days before the announcement, Nick Marston, chief executive of British Berry Growers, said the organisation had “put a proposal in” to Defra. “We would like to see ongoing funding at at least the current level, and we accept that access to [the scheme] may be broadened,” he said. “If it is broadened, then the total pot has to be increased commensurately. At the moment it costs £40 million a year, so double that would be peanuts compared to the Single Farm Payment budget. We also want it to be based on a three- or five-year rolling programme of investment and improvement which is strategically based.
“Defra is very much minded to go down the route of capital grants. They are very specific and tend to have very short application windows, and if it’s a big project the planning process means almost inevitably you will be beyond the closing window of any grant scheme.”
