Budget for England’s farm environment schemes hits £1.9bn
Stephen Morgan, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said spending on Environmental Land Management schemes was planned to reach £2bn by 2028-29.
The budget for Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes is £1.9bn in 2026-27, more than four times the £433m spent in 2020, Stephen Morgan, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has said.
Morgan gave the figures on 18 September in a written parliamentary answer to Liberal Democrat MP Edward Morello.
Morello, who represents West Dorset, had asked what assessment had been made of the adequacy of the ELM budget for the 2026-27 financial year.
The budget was “rising further still”, the minister said, with plans to spend £2bn on ELM schemes by 2028-29 – making “a total of £2.7 billion of investment into farming and nature”.
The department’s 2025-26 annual report showed £1.8bn was spent on the schemes, which include the Sustainable Farming Incentive, CS Higher Tier and ELM Capital.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive is open to farmers across England, according to the department.
The answer does not say whether the department considers the budget adequate.
