Farming families said the challenges they had faced applying for Universal Credit had left them on the brink while trying to operate a working business
The long-term future and existence of family farms could be at risk as farmers revealed their ‘desperate' situation claiming financial support from the Government.
Farmers had told Farmers Guardian about their struggles applying for Universal Credit (UC), a payment to help with living costs for those earning less than £16,000 or out of work.
HM Revenue and Customs said UC had been introduced to 'simplify' the benefits system and provide a safety net for those in need through a single monthly payment.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), over 5,571,146 people in England were claiming UC in January 2024.
However, the 'bureaucratic nature' of the application process and the ‘failure' to account for the variability in farm incomes, from that of traditional employment roles, has left farmers in a 'perilous' position about the long-term future of their businesses and family farms as a whole.
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David Ottley, a mixed-arable and free-range livestock farmer from Bacton in Norfolk, said the challenges farmers had faced during a cost-of-living crisis and the difficulty they had faced seeking financial support could be the ‘final nail in the coffin' to the future of family farms.
"Despite all the hours I put into the farm, there are months when we do not make a single penny because of the unpredictable nature of the weather and rising costs of running the business," he added.
"Having received our migration letter from tax credits to UC last year, I could not believe how awful the experience.
"And at a time when I was at my lowest, it was overbearing.
"However, I was treated like dirt on someone's shoe by people at the job centre who just did not understand farming and how treacherous it can be.
"It was one of the worst moments of my life to be told I needed to get another job when I already work over 80 hours a week.
"It is completely ridiculous."
Mr Ottley said he felt like a valuable lifeline of support had been taken away from farming families during a difficult time.
"It really is worrying how you are supposed to feed your family and keep a business going when Covid and the Ukraine war has elevated prices to a point where we cannot live a happy life," he said.
"Farmers struggle to get a cheque from one month to the next, never mind thinking about how they will be paid over a year.
"Farming cannot go on this way and we are now at breaking point.
"It feels like a lifeline of support has been snatched from us simply because we are farmers.
"People just do not value the importance of food and how vital it is for our nation to have that level of security.
"Without support, I feel this could be the end of small tenancy family farms who cannot keep going without financial support."
Jess Evison, a sheep and cattle farmer from Helmsley near York, said her family has been left in a difficult situation of struggling to put food on the table for her three children after ‘giving up' on the UC application process.
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She added: "Now I no longer have the £1,200 coming into the home from tax credits to help pay bills and put food on the table, it has a knock-on effect on our life, our farm business and my children who cannot go on school trips anymore because we simply cannot afford it.
"To be told we would have to get another job working nights alongside working over 90 hours a week, was beyond a joke.
"For farming to be viewed in such disregard as a hobby by the DWP is ridiculous.
"Farming is one of the most toughest and brutal industries to be part of.
"As a family, we decided to discontinue our application because it was simply too much to take.
"We now worry how we are going to feed our children but the worst thing is that other people will be in struggling more than we are.
"There is something seriously wrong when farmers cannot reach for financial support without having to integrate and change their farm business to meet environmental agendas.
"If we cannot put food on our own tables, how on earth are we supposed to feed the nation?"
A petition calling on the Government to change UC rules for farmers including the way income is reported from monthly back to annually for farmers has reached over 1,000 signatures so far.
The Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA) said the ‘plight' of farmers has left many working in the industry below the poverty line.
The agricultural tenancy farm board says farm incomes assessed through a Minimum Income Floor, representing the level of earning an employed person would receive for a specific number of hours under the National Minimum Wage which ‘did not reflect' the true nature and how farm businesses operate.
George Dunn, TFA chief executive, said the Government had turned a ‘blind eye' to challenges farmers had faced claiming UC to support their families.
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NFU trade and business strategy director Nick von Westenholz has been made aware of ‘significant problems' farmers had faced claiming UC and said the organisation would ensure families are ‘not worse off' under the proposed new system.
Property agents Howkins and Harrison says the UC system ‘needed reform' to understand the reality farmers faced in seeking financial support.
A spokesperson for the DWP said it ‘recognised' self-employed people, like farmers, can experience periods of low earnings but income levels are taken into account on a monthly basis to ensure benefit payments are maintained at a ‘fair and continuous level'.
"The UC systems recognises that self-employed people like farmers can experience periods of low earnings. Income levels are taken into account on a monthly basis to ensure benefit payments are maintained at a fair and continuous level," the spokesperson added.
"A range of support is available to the farming community including free business advice through the Future Farming Resilience Fund, whilst mental health, well-being and financial support can be accessed through the Farming Community Network website and helpline."
