Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with representatives of the farming sector on the level of funding available under replacement farm support schemes.

Defra regularly and actively engages with representatives from the farming industry through regular meetings and discussions, ensuring their views are heard, their concerns are understood, and their feedback considered.

In particular, Defra engaged over 30 stakeholder organisations on the policy design of the SFI26 offer.

This engagement included farmer representatives such as the National Farmers Union and the Tenant Farmers Association, ensuring the views of smaller farm businesses were fully considered.

Defra utilised the insight gathered from this engagement in developing the SFI26 offer, Window 1 of which was open 30 June – 28 August 2026 and Window 2 of which opens later this month.