Greenest farmers to be first in line for grants
Our Agriculture Bill will reward farmers for helping the environment – not for how many acres they own
FARMERS who protect the countryside will be first in the queue for postbrexit state subsidies as they are freed from the “perverse” constraints of EU rules on handouts, Michael Gove says today.
The Environment Secretary will announce a new system of “public money for public goods” that will replace the EU’S controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which enriches the wealthiest landowners.
The Agriculture Bill, which will be introduced in Parliament today, is the first piece of legislation to detail exactly how any one sector of the economy will change after Brexit.
Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph,
Mr Gove says the Bill ensures that farmers will “at last” be properly rewarded for the work they do “to enhance the environment around us”.
Instead of CAP payments being handed out by Brussels on the basis of how much land they own, farmers will be given state aid linked to producing high-quality food in a more sustainable way. They will also be encouraged to look after hedgerows and other wildlife habitats, and provide greater public access to their land by maintaining paths, dry stone walls, stiles and gates.
Mitigating against climate change by planting trees and preventing flooding will be rewarded, as will improvements in soil health, water quality, air quality, biodiversity and carbon reduction.
Mr Gove says farmers have been “held back by the stifling rules and often perverse incentives of the EU’S Common Agricultural Policy”. Under the CAP, almost 50 per cent of total payments go to just 10 per cent of recipients, while 20 per cent share just 2 per cent of the whole sum. The wealthiest landowners benefit the most and smallholders get little help.
Mr Gove argues that the CAP system will be replaced with “land management contracts” in place by 2027.
The Bill will set out a seven-year agricultural transition period, during which the Government will initially pay farmers the same as they currently receive under the CAP before phasing in the changes.
Farmers who receive the biggest EU subsidies – £150,000 or more – will see the largest reduction in their grants when the transition begins, with 25 per cent cut in the first year.
In a further crucial change, payments will no longer be linked to a contractual obligation to farm the land, meaning farmers will have the freedom to use the money to invest in equipment or diversify their business.
Mr Gove writes that the changes will “help farm businesses become more resilient, productive and internationally competitive” and will also make it easier for a new generation of farmers to enter the industry. However, Mr Gove’s department comes in for criticism today as the National Audit Office (NAO) reports that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is not ready for Brexit.
It says that three quarters of Defra’s Brexit workstreams are classed as “red” or “amber” as they are behind schedule, and food exports could be delayed at the border or prevented from leaving because of a shortage of vets to examine them to ensure animal welfare standards have been met.
Britain leaving the EU liberates us to do things differently, and better. It’s a chance to take back control of policy levers which have been out of our hands for decades. Nowhere is that more true than in the environment and agriculture.
Our farmers already do a great job of protecting our countryside while also producing premium food that’s the envy of the world. But for too long they have been held back by the stifling rules and often perverse incentives of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. Today, this changes.
Our new Agriculture Bill marks a decisive shift in how we support farmers. It will reward them properly at last for the work they do to enhance the environment around us. It will help them grow more high-quality food in a more sustainable way – and it will ensure public money is spent more efficiently and effectively.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has held back Britain economically and environmentally. The lion’s share of money is allocated based on the size of individual land holdings, not the contribution farmers make to society. And the complex rules governing this process have inhibited innovation and added bureaucratic costs to food production.
Nearly three quarters of England is farmland but the regulations governing how we maintain and enhance our distinctive environment, and how we grow crops and improve food production, have been set in Brussels. While we have been subject to the rules of the CAP our environment has suffered. Valuable habitats have been lost, the number of farmland birds has dropped and the health of the soil on which future food production depends has been eroded.
Outside the EU, we can ensure we devote public money to enriching wildlife habitats, preventing flooding, improving the quality of air, soil and peat, and planting trees to help manage and mitigate the effects of climate change. We will also ensure support is there to ensure high animal welfare standards and make it easier for everyone to enjoy the countryside. Just this week we learnt from Natural England that more people than ever are spending time in the natural world. That’s good for our health and wellbeing, and it’s something we want to encourage.
Our Bill will also help farm businesses become more resilient, productive and internationally competitive. It will support farmers in getting a decent price for the food they produce, clamping down on unfair trading practices along the supply chain. And we will be introducing transitional support schemes to enable investment in equipment and technology to deliver goods and support new entrants to farming.
While I am delighted that we are escaping the more inflexible and unjust elements of the CAP, I am also conscious that for many who care deeply about the environment our EU membership coincided with a growing public awareness about the urgent need to protect it. The work to deliver on our pledge to leave the environment in a better condition than we found it will not stop here. Next year we will introduce a new, ambitious Environment Bill. This will include a number of measures such as a focus on improving air quality, specific environmental principles and the establishment of a new independent environment body.
Over the last 15 months, as Environment Secretary, I have had the privilege of getting to know and working alongside those who look after Britain’s countryside, and I’ve been constantly impressed by their ingenuity and enterprise. Whether shepherds in the Lake District, whose contribution to maintaining one of the most beautiful parts of England is priceless, or cutting-edge operations like G’s, one of the most dynamic food businesses in the world, Britain’s farmers do a brilliant job.
Our Bill has been designed to ensure that their contribution to maintaining our countryside and producing healthy food will be greater than ever. It will also ensure we have a pipeline of talent to be the future custodians of rural Britain. This is only the first step towards a brighter, better and greener future for farming and our countryside outside the EU.