Tim Farron pleads with DEFRA minister to protect Cumbrian hill farmers

On the floor of the House of Commons this morning, local MP Tim Farron urged the Farming Minister to give financial support to upland farmers in Cumbria who are struggling to make ends meet.

It comes as shocking new modelling carried out by the University of Cumbria’s Professor Julia Aglionby shows that many upland farmers in England are now living on less than the National Minimum Wage.

According to the research, by 2027/28 the average income for an upland farmer is expected to be only 55% of the National Minimum Wage.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to give specific financial support to upland farmers to ensure that they are earning at least the minimum wage.

Speaking in Parliament during DEFRA Questions today, Tim said: “Is the Minister aware that some of the farmers who will be worst hit by the APR changes are those who farm in severely disadvantaged areas in the uplands around our country, where typically property values are high and incomes are extremely low? 

“When the change was made just last week with people being excluded from the sustainable farming incentive, 6,100 people had entered the SFI in this session, and only 40 of them were hill farmers. Is he also aware that his own Department’s figures show that at the end of the transition, the average hill farm income will be 55% of the national minimum wage? 

“Does he not understand that his changes are bringing harm to the poorest farmers in the prettiest places, such as mine? 

“Will he undertake to look at the Liberal Democrat proposal to bring in an uplands reward so that we do not plunge into poverty those people who care for our precious landscapes?”

In response, the Minister for Farming Daniel Zeichner said: “The honourable Gentleman always speaks with passion about his constituents, and I absolutely understand those concerns. He is right to say that the schemes we inherited did not reward those areas as well as they should. 

“That is why in our announcement a few weeks ago, we increased the higher level stewardship payments by £30 million, which will be of particular advantage to people in his area. I agree with him, and the schemes we inherited were not good enough.

“That is why we are revising them.”