A farming roundtable has met with the Food Security Minister to explain the "crushing impact" of Defra’s decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
The discussions, which was organised by the NFU, also raised the urgent need for transparency from the government on why it made its controversial decision.
Representatives from the UK farming unions and industry bodies called on Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner to provide more information on what happens next.
Following the meeting, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the unexpected and sudden closure of the SFI was a "devastating shock" for farmers across the country.
He warned that it would leave farms "on a knife edge", particularly following deeply unpopular changes to inheritance tax announced in October's autumn budget.
“We made it clear that this decision threatens the livelihoods of farmers, but also undermines the ability of farm businesses to deliver environmental work.
“Our recent farm business confidence survey results show that farmer confidence has reached an all-time low.
"The uncertainty caused by this abrupt policy change will erode any confidence that was left in the farming community," Mr Bradshaw said.
The post-Brexit agricultural scheme, launched by the previous Conservative government, has 50,000 farms taking part, with them delivering sustainable food production and nature recovery.
The largest of these schemes, SFI24, has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements.
The Labour government said that it had "inherited an uncapped scheme, despite a finite farming budget" and that "now is the right time for a reset".
But farming representative called on Defra to undertake impact assessments, looking at what the decision would mean for the post-Brexit agricultural transition.
They also said that the government must build trust in the farming industry by being transparent about the agriculture budget and its allocations.
Mr Bradshaw said that the decision to shut the SFI had "crushed all trust in Defra: “It is vital Defra provides urgent clarity on the future of SFI and starts being transparent about its budget," he added.
"As a start, the minister could ensure that those farmers who feel abandoned, the people that have started applications and done the work, are able to enter into agreements."
The meeting follows the NFU releasing the results of its annual farmer confidence survey, showing that short-term confidence has collapsed this year by 10 points to -35.
Meanwhile, mid-term confidence has dropped by 16 points to a worrying -38, an all time low since the union launched the survey 15 years ago.
