Making farm payments work for small-scale farmers and growers

Small farms can support the creation of a more sustainable, healthy and resilient food system.

Prior to Brexit, farms had to be 5 hectares or more in size to be eligible for subsidies. In 2024, DEFRA announced the removal of the 5-hectare limit from its Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs), opening up support to small farms in England for the first time.

Despite the removal of the limit, a survey carried out by the UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition found that very few small farmers and growers were benefitting from the government's flagship scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). This briefing sets out the challenges facing small-scale farmers and growers when applying to the scheme, and what the government could change to support them better.

The UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition is an alliance between organisations representing organic, agroecological growers across the four nations of the UK. We are working together to create a future in which more fruit and vegetables are produced in the UK, we reduce our reliance on imports, agroecological growing becomes a rewarding, valued and accessible career path for many more people, and everyone can eat and enjoy healthy food that is produced without wrecking the environment and climate. Members include the CSA Network, Organic Farmers and Growers, Organic Growers’ Alliance, Landworkers’ Alliance, Soil Association and Sustain.