Farm business confidence has reached historically low levels, bypassing the record lows set last year, and this all before Defra delivered another hammer blow to farmers through the precipitous closure of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) applications last night.
The former government received deep criticism when last year’s Farmer Confidence Survey showed that short-term confidence had deteriorated to -25 and mid-term confidence to -22. This year, short-term confidence has decreased by another 10 points to -35 and mid-term confidence has dropped by 16 points to a worrying -38.
This has created a new all-time low since the survey began 15 years ago. If the survey were taken again today, it’s expected this would drop even further after Defra’s sudden announcement.
The survey also showed that, for the first time ever, investment across the board is drying up with farmers and growers not able to make investments in key areas such as machinery, infrastructure and energy efficiency, creating a significant barrier to growth. The SFI news will only exacerbate cashflow issues and farmers’ capability to invest.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “When our Confidence Survey results came out last year, we thought we’d hit rock bottom. When we were initially looking to release our survey results today, we knew we’d hit a new all-time low. Now, with another blow dealt to the farming sector without warning last night, I’m realising there is no such thing as rock bottom as far as Defra is concerned.
“Business confidence was already low. Now we are in situation where the farming community has no confidence in the government.”
“If government wants to re-build confidence, work with us, not against us. We are ready and waiting to help set a new brighter course for the UK farming sector.”
