A West Devon farmer and MP have hit out at the government’s ‘sudden’ closure of its ‘green’ farming fund.

Mat Cole, of Greenwell sheep farm in Meavy and Sir Geoffrey Cox Tavistock and Torridge MP, have criticised the sustainable farming initiative (SFI) funding which ran out in about six hours on the application deadline day on Tuesday, September 22.

Hundreds of farmers who had already budgeted for their bids for a share of the £233m national pot of money (designed for all farmers to encourage best practice in environmental stewardship) now face budget shortfalls.

Mat, Uplands South Chair National Farmers Union (NFU) said the issue could not have come at a worse time when farmers were facing the losses from the Blue Tongue outbreak and a drought. He warned the SFI problem could ultimately risk food inflation and possibly food supplies.

Mart said: “The situation is ridiculous. I went to Tavistock Market yesterday (Tuesday) to sell some breeding sheep and was in my office chair by 12.30. Three hours through the application process I had the agreement ready to submit with most of my option being around managing grassland, hedgerows, stone-faced banks and rare breeds.

The agreement would have been worth about £50k a year to our small uplands business. I submitted the application only to be told by the DEFRA portal that 'Sorry, there is a problem with the service'. The SFI window had been closed minutes before I submitted just before 4pm. The £230 million had been spent. The situation is ludicrous.”

He called on the DEFRA (Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs to secure a budget ‘fit for purpose and adequately rewards the farming community for the environmental services we deliver.’

The only support farmers get is for the sale of environmental services through DEFRA’s ELMs (environmental land management schemes, including SFI): “Without that support our whole industry is very exposed and at risk.

“Farming is a family led generational business which thrives on long term security to deliver resilience. We currently feel very exposed in a volatile world, surely food security alongside environmental stewardship have a value. Currently, to our business they have none.”

Sir Geoffrey said: “The Government clearly has very serious questions to answer, and I hope urgent measures will be taken to rectify this farcical event and address the uncertainty this has caused for our farming families”.

A Defra spokesperson said: “This year we ensured small farms and those new to SFI were prioritised - with an exclusive first window in the summer.

“In anticipation of high demand in the second window, Ministers decided to allocate an additional £20m to the fund, on top the £50m announced by the Prime Minister in August, so that we could fund as many agreements as possible. We allocated a total of £310m to new agreements under both windows.”

Farming Minister Stephen Morgan said: "We built this year's SFI to be simpler and fairer, so farmers don't carry the risk of a changing climate alone, they have responded in force.

"This works for farmers, backs food production, and delivers practical, sustainable land management, supporting the aims of our long-term plan for English farming.

“We'll set out more on the next steps for SFI in 2027 soon."