17 Aug 2026 New drought support measures for farmers
The government’s emergency response committee (COBR) has met to consider the recent extreme heat, wildfires and drought.
Following COBR, measures have been announced will help farmers manage drought pressures, protect crops and strengthen resilience for the future.
These are:
- Temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management (ELM) agreements, so farmers affected by drought can continue to receive payments and take practical steps to protect livestock, crops and land.
- An extra £50 million for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2, to help more farmers adapt to the risk of future droughts.
- Action to make it easier to build reservoirs.
- Funding up to £15 million to build on-farm reservoirs.
- Improved access to water during drought conditions, including that the Environment Agency will prioritise requests for short term variations to abstraction licence conditions.
Read more on this Defra blog post.