Seventy-four per cent of the total floodplain in the United Kingdom is agricultural land, including, 60% of our best and most versatile land. As a result, the argument about what should happen with floodplains—whether they should be allowed to flood, be rewilded or be retained for agricultural use—is central to the debate about food security.
Last winter, there were more than 1,000 flood warnings for farmland, a record high which had a knock-on impact on yields. Our weather patterns are changing, and the expectation is that winters will get wetter with more intense rain. We need to respond.
It is crucial that drainage intended to remove water from productive farmland is cleared regularly, either by the Environment Agency or local farmers doing it on their behalf. Farmland is not free flooding for the Environment Agency. Where there is flooding of productive farmland, the Government needs to build on the Farming Recovery Fund, which was created by the last Conservative government to compensate farmers for uninsurable losses.
We need to identify potential flood relief, including areas where the quality of the land is worse and where, in negotiation with landowners and farmers, we can identify historical floodplains or flood meadows. There is potential for farmers to benefit from allowing areas of lower-quality land to accept flooding for the benefit of others.
Farms can have a role in minimising flooding in-farm as well as further down the watercourse. Where present, peat bogs in good condition, can act like giant sponges, not just for water but for carbon storage. When they are in poor condition, the cycle goes into reverse. Riparian buffers, planted next to watercourses, slow the flow of water off the land and absorb it.
There are also in-field practices based around soil management. The old ‘heavy metal’ approach leads to collapsed soil structures, reducing the ability of the soil to absorb and then retain water, increasing run-off and leading to flash flooding. If there is a soil structure that is not capable of absorbing and retaining water in the winter, it becomes water-hungry in the spring and summer, leading to reduced yield, and increased costs of irrigation.
There is another way, at least for lighter soils, which can help. By minimising the disturbance of soil its structure can be developed. This creates spaces in the soil to absorb water, but it also has a secondary impact, encouraging mycorrhizal interaction of live roots, securing carbon and improving the absorbent sponginess of the soil.
This is important because as absorption is increased the speed at which that water is emitted back into the watercourse is reduced. Allied to that is the use of cover crops during the winter. Having live roots in the soil structure reduces run-off and soil erosion in the winter.
The last Government honoured its commitment to provide £2.4 billion every year of the Parliament to support the transition from area-based payments to public money for public goods via the Environmental Land Management Scheme. The Sustainable Farming Incentive supported improvements to soil quality, water quality, hedgerows, tree planting and riparian buffers. The countryside stewardship scheme, the landscape recovery scheme, the England Woodland Creation offer, and the Nature for Climate Fund are all schemes that provided funding for the transition to nature-based solutions.
All this progress has been thrown into doubt. Hidden in Labour’s Budget it said that “funding pressures on flood defences and farm schemes of almost £600 million” will require a review into affordability after 2026. What does that mean? Are we going to cut back on all the nature-friendly farming initiatives? That is the opposite of the Labour party’s manifesto commitment, which was to expand nature-rich habitats. Farmers already feel betrayed by the Government over the Family Farm Tax. The use by the Treasury of flawed analysis of the impact of its policy makes farmers feel that the Government doesn’t understand how farming works. Cutting funding for long term projects after just two years reinforces this impression. The Government needs to get a grip.
Nature Based Solutions for Farmland Flooding
