Labour MPs rage as £233m farming pot runs dry within hours

Labour MPs have condemned the government’s handling of a £233m farming support scheme as an “utter joke” after the entire budget was exhausted within hours, fuelling fresh tensions between the party and rural communities.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 was opened to farmers and land managers across England on Tuesday, with the government saying the £233mn fund would support sustainable food production while helping farmers improve soil health, protect waterways and create habitats for wildlife.

But the funding window closed at 3.48pm the same day after the available budget had been allocated, according to government guidance.

The speed at which the money disappeared prompted anger among Labour MPs, with several complaining privately about the lack of notice and the first-come, first-served nature of the process.

In a group chat of Labour MPs leaked to The Sun, Barrow & Furness MP Michelle Scrogham criticised the rollout.

“FFS this is basic organising and shouldn’t be run like sodding festival tickets,” she said.

Cannock Chase MP Josh Newbury agreed that Conservative backbencher Alicia Kearns had a “good point” after she accused Whitehall of failing to give farmers sufficient notice of when the scheme would open.

Scarborough & Whitby MP Alison Hume said she had received messages from farmers claiming that “Labour has sold us down the river”.

David Smith, MP for Northumberland, described the rollout as a “disaster”.

“Disaster disaster disaster. Already getting emails about it. Utter joke, it looks like first come first served,” he said.

The row comes at a sensitive moment for Labour in rural Britain.

The party dramatically increased its representation in rural constituencies at the 2024 general election, but its relationship with farming communities has been strained by disputes over taxation, subsidies and agricultural policy.

The most politically damaging confrontation followed Labour’s 2024 Budget reforms to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, which farmers criticised as a threat to family farms.

The government subsequently increased the threshold for 100 per cent relief from £1mn to £2.5mn from April 2026. Couples and civil partners can potentially transfer up to £5mn of qualifying agricultural and business assets between them before the new rules apply, on top of existing allowances.

The reforms nevertheless mean that qualifying agricultural and business property above the £2.5mn allowance receives relief at 50 per cent rather than 100 per cent.

For ministers, the SFI controversy presents a different problem: not the size of the funding commitment, but the mechanism through which farmers are being allowed to access it.

The government said the £233mn second SFI26 window included £180mn originally allocated to the round, an additional £50mn announced by the Prime Minister in response to drought and rising costs, and £3mn left unallocated from the first window.

Defra had promised to provide updates as the money was allocated, publishing a warning when 50 per cent of the budget had been taken.

But demand ultimately outstripped the available funding, with the application window closing the same afternoon.

Farming Minister Stephen Morgan acknowledged the disappointment.

“Farmers will receive almost a third of a billion pounds each year for three years under new SFI26 agreements,” he said.

“That’s nearly a billion pounds invested in resilient farming.”

He added: “I know some farmers who wanted to join SFI26 will be deeply disappointed not to have secured an agreement during Window 2, particularly given the challenges the sector has faced this year.

“I have heard those concerns and am determined to work closely with farmers as we learn lessons from this year and shape SFI27, including exploring alternatives to a first-come, first-served application process.”

The admission that ministers are considering an alternative to first-come, first-served funding underlines the immediate political problem.

The government can point to substantial sums being committed to farming, but farmers who attempted to access the latest scheme found themselves competing for a finite pot that disappeared within hours.

For Labour MPs representing rural constituencies, the episode risks turning a programme designed to provide farmers with greater financial security into another source of frustration — just as the party seeks to rebuild its relationship with the countryside.