On Wednesday, Defra ministers announced that £20,000 in support payments would be made available for farmers hit by flooding in the north-west over the weekend.

Payments will be made to farmers in Cumbria and the north of Lancashire whose land was flooded when Storm Desmond brought unprecedented amounts of rain to the region late last week.  

Just one day after NFU president Meurig Raymond demanded that the government show support for farmers affected by the extreme weather, farming minister George Eustice announced that funding will be made available from the government’s £40m Community Recovery Scheme, which was unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne earlier on Wednesday.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will not carry out inspections in the flooded areas and will make use of any flexibility in cross compliance and animal movement rules for affected farmers, Eustice said.

In a statement, the Farming minister added,  “We understand flooding can have serious consequences for farmers and we want to provide practical support to those affected by last weekend’s unprecedented rainfall in Cumbria and North Lancashire.

“The new Farming Recovery Fund will help to cover farmers’ short-term uninsured recovery costs, such as repairing damaged soils, tracks and flood channels. We will pay out on all eligible applications and we hope it will offer some relief at this challenging time. I am also pleased to confirm the RPA will be relaxing inspection requirements on farmers in the flood-hit areas so farmers can focus all their efforts on getting back up and running.”

The funding will allow farmers to restore productive arable, horticultural and grassland, restore vehicle access routes and repair drainage systems. Farmers who want to apply for the Farming Recovery Fund should contact the Rural Services helpline on 03000 200 301.

Environment secretary Liz Truss has defended the government’s response to flooding, but Defra has come under fire in the wake of the storm over previous cuts to flood defence budgets and, from environmentalists, for failing to return trees to hillsides in watershed areas, where rainfall that creates floodwaters could be held back.

Challenging the Chancellor in Parliament on Wednesday, Labour’s Shadow First Secretary of State Angela Eagle said only 15% of people affected by last year’s winter floods in the South-West had received the assistance promised by the government.