Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Stephen Morgan (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farmer Collaboration Fund

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Department's press release entitled New support to help farmers thrive for generations, published on 16 July 2026, what estimate has been made of the number of farmers which will receive support from the £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund.

Answer: To develop the Farmer Collaboration Fund Defra has considered the impact of different delivery models, including a range of potential collaboration group sizes. Experience from the rollout of previous schemes such as the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund has contributed towards our expectations. The exact number of farmers supported across the three years will depend on a variety of factors, particularly the nature and scale of bids received from prospective delivery partners. We will use information from round one of the fund to refine our models over time.

Secondary information