Government pays out £57 million to farmers affected by devastating flooding

• In just two weeks over £57 million paid out to farmers affected by 23/24 flooding
• More than 12,700  payments to support recovery from last winter’s wet weather have now been made.
• Majority of payments arrived in bank accounts from 21 November following letters to eligible farmers

Farmers have received payments totaling £57.5 million from the Farming Recovery Fund so far, the government confirmed today (27 November).

Around 13,000 farmers were impacted by severe wet weather, including Storms Henk and Babet, between October and March last year, with more than 12,700 recovery payments ranging from £2,895 - £25,000 now being made.

These are one off recovery payments which will support land recovery activities such as soil remediation, recultivation and the removal of any debris caused by flooding.

The vast majority (95%) of eligible farm businesses have now received their payments after the funding was confirmed two weeks ago on 13 November.  Outstanding payments will continue to be made.

Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said:

“In just two weeks we have paid over £57 million to farms affected by devastating flooding – £10 million more than the previous Government.

“However, we are going further by investing £5 billion for the farming budget over two years – with the largest ever directed at sustainable food production in our country’s history.

“This demonstrates this Government’s steadfast commitment to farmers.”

The government also recently confirmed that £50 million would be distributed to internal drainage boards (IDBs), the public bodies responsible for managing water levels for agricultural and environmental needs in a particular area.

The farming budget is £5 billion over the next two years, the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature's recovery, with ELM schemes remaining at the centre of the offer for farmers and nature. The Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery are all continuing.

Alongside the £60 million Farming Recovery Fund, the government has also committed £208 million up to 2025-26 for the government’s biosecurity facilities at Weybridge to protect the nation from disease outbreaks that can threaten the farming industry and food security.

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

• The Environment Agency and Met Office data has been used to identify which farm businesses will receive the recovery payment.
• This data on river flooding and exceptional rainfall allows us to pinpoint affected land and make payments directly to eligible farms. By focusing on those with the most significant impacts, this approach ensures the payment contributes to uninsured costs resulting from the extreme wet weather.
• The recovery payments are focused on exceptional wet weather impacts in this period and therefore those who are most likely to have had the most significant impacts.
• Eligibility covers areas of the most extensive river flooding from the two largest storms in the period plus the areas where extreme rainfall occurred over the six months.
• Farmers received a letter from the RPA with details of the area of land considered to be eligible for the recovery payment by combining 2 sources of information:

1. Flooding from rivers

Data from the Environment Agency was used to track high river levels during Storm Babet (19–25 October 2023) and Storm Henk (2–12 January 2024. Satellite imagery was used to confirm the land where the river flooding impacts were most severe.

2. Exceptional rainfall

Rainfall data from the Met Office identified local authority areas in England where at least half of the area experienced exceptional rainfall (more than 70% above the 30-year average rainfall) from October 2023 to March 2024.

Eligible land parcels were then identified in these areas and payment made for a set proportion of total eligible farm area to take account of uncertainties in the precise extent of localised rainfall impacts across the country.

Farmers whose land is engineered as a flood storage area are not eligible for recovery payments.

How the payment is calculated

An amount of land in eligible areas identified that were affected by high river levels and flooding (from satellite data based on river gauge readings)

An amount of land in eligible areas identified with extreme rainfall (excluding land already counted for flooding)

Add the amounts of land calculated in step 1 and step 2 together

Apply the payment band based on the total eligible hectares.

If, for example, the amount of land parcels affected totals between 1 and 25 hectares of eligible land, farmers will receive a one-off payment of £2,895. The more land affected, the higher the payment, according to the table below.

Payment bands

1.00 – 25.00 ha £2,895

25.01 – 50.00 ha £4,875

50.01 – 75.00 ha £8,125

75.01 – 100.00 ha £11,375

100.01 – 125.00 ha £14,625

125.01 – 150.00 ha £17,875

150.01 – 175.00 ha £21,125

175.01 ha and above £25,000

The recovery payments will only be made to farmers in England as an exceptional, one-off contribution towards the uninsured costs incurred from returning their land to its pre-flooding condition.