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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate has been made of the number of collaborative farming groups currently operating in England.

Between 2015 and 2023, Defra supported approximately 6,000 farmers in 220 collaboration groups through the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund. There are also a wide range of formal and informal farmer collaboration models operating across England, and the Government does not track all of those groups. Defra’s latest Farmer Opinion Tracker data, from April 2026, indicates that farmers on 26% of holdings are currently members of a collaboration group. A further 43% are not currently involved but believe participation in such a group would be beneficial.