Farmers trying to get financial support from the government say they are being treated "like a bunch of kids scrabbling on the floor for sweets" after thousands missed out on the latest funding.

Rose Barnecut, who has a mixed organic farm in Cornwall, said the way the government had handled post-Brexit funding for farmers was "cruel" and would push some out of business.

She described the latest episode of applications for sustainable farming incentive (SFI) funding as a "fiasco" as farmers wrestled with online applications and saw government cash run out after six hours.

The government said it wanted to develop a "fairer system" and vowed to "learn lessons" from this year's application process.

Barnecut's family have farmed the land at Bodinnick Farm near St Stephen for generations, rearing sheep and cattle in the rolling hills and valleys of mid-Cornwall - about six miles from the coast and with the white peaks of clay country visible in the near distance.

She said it was an acutely difficult time for farmers after searing summer heat and farms hit by cases of the potentially fatal bluetongue virus.

When the UK was part of the EU farmers received about £3.5bn of state subsidy every year under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - payments which "stabilised farming and ensured food security", according to Barnecut.

In the latest round of the SFI scheme, which rewards environmentally-friendly land management, there was about £250m available, with agreements capped at £100,000 a year for individual businesses.

The government held an earlier application process in August - Window 1 - for small farms, with £60m of funding available.

Barnecut said the overall government funding had been "shamefully depleted" since leaving the EU and left farmers unable to plan for the future.

The Window 2 application process for the SFI cash opened at 10:00 BST on 22 September but had run out of budget by 15:48 - leaving many farmers unable to claim.

Barnecut did not apply for the most recent funding but has had a countryside stewardship agreement in place for about 20 years and will need to make an application to renew that in 2027.

She said: "We are the industry that feeds the nation.

"We look after the landscape. We are the bedrock of rural communities.

"Yet we are treated like a bunch of kids scrabbling on the floor for the sweets thrown out by the clown at the end of the party."

The president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Tom Bradshaw, said the NFU had repeatedly warned Defra demand for the Window 2 funding would far exceed the funding available.

He said farmers had been left "high, dry and desperate", unable to access support for producing food, delivering environmental improvements and strengthening the resilience of their businesses.

He said: "We now have SFI 'haves' and 'have nots', based purely on the speed of pressing a button. We cannot go on like this."

The government suddenly closed a previous SFI scheme in March 2025 and when it announced the latest scheme it said it wanted to "avoid sudden, unexpected closures" in 2026 by updating farmers as the budget was allocated.

The Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee, responsible for scrutinising Defra, has launched a survey to gather the views of farmers in England about their experience with the SFI application.

The chairman of the committee, Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat member for Orkney and Shetland, said for farmers, problems with the funding application process were "the last thing they needed".

He said: "So many farmers were disappointed by the SFI application process and have been left in a place where planning their business is more difficult than ever."

Farming Minister Stephen Morgan said under previous systems about a quarter of all funding went to 4% of farms.

He said: "That's why this government developed a fairer system to reach more farmers by capping applications at £100,000 and ensured small farms and those new to environmental land management schemes were prioritised.

"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."

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