Post-Brexit reward for environment-friendly farmers

FARMERS will be rewarded for protecting the environment after Britain leaves the EU in Government plans revealed today.

They will get paid for improving air quality, preventing flooding and upholding animal welfare standards.

Farmers will also get payouts for maintaining hedgerows, providing flower patches for bees and planting trees and hedges. The Agriculture Bill, introduced to Parliament today, is the most radical change to farm subsidies since Britain joined the EU more than 40 years ago.

It will replace the current system, which pays farmers based on the amount of land worked. These payments are skewed towards the largest landowners and are not linked to any specific public benefits.

The top 10 per cent of recipients currently receive almost 50 per cent of total payments, while the bottom 20 per cent receive just 2 per cent.

The new Environmental Land Management system will start from next year. The Government said that farmers and land managers ‘who provide the greatest environmental benefits will secure the largest rewards, laying the foundations for a Green Brexit’.

But the proposals angered the National Farming Union who said it was disappointed that the Agriculture Bill made no mention of food production.