Transition to new farm payments ‘haphazard’
FARMS risk going out of business under a “haphazard” transition to new agricultural policy schemes that will reward farmers for protecting the environment, MPs have warned.
A failure to publish “precise and measurable objectives” for how the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme will support the Government’s wider environmental aims could reduce the number of farmers and land managers who take part, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee said.
The flagship scheme, which phases out the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) system of direct subsidy payments in favour of ‘public money for public goods’, such as improving biodiversity and water quality, is already being partially piloted, and is due to be fully operational by 2027.
Despite this, a new report published by the Efra Committee today finds “considerable uncertainty” and “failure of communication” overshadow the most significant shake-up to agricultural support that British farmers and producers will have experienced throughout their careers.
Many family farms in the South West, particularly those with grazing livestock, are heavily dependent on their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claim in order to remain profitable. A seven-year transition period to ELM from 2021 to 2027 is already underway, with progressive reductions to BPS payments due to start in December.
According to the Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) road map, farmers who receive less than £30,000 a year will see their BPS money cut by 5% in just over a month’s time, increasing to 50% by 2024. For larger farms, the cuts will be much bigger.
Neil Parish, chair of the Efra Select Committee, said, given the global challenges which face British farming – including climate change and new trading conditions – the ELM programme “must work for farmers”.
Raising a number of concerns relating to the transition period, Mr Parish, a farmer himself and MP for Tiverton and Honiton, called on Defra to act on the report’s recommendations, ensuring that farms are “not left behind, or forced out of business, by Government policy”.
“This is the most fundamental change to agricultural funding in a generation, and the impact of this huge change on farmers’ incomes and entire ways of life cannot be underestimated,” he continued. “The plan to support farmers through this transition must be robust, and it must be able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. The Government appears to be determined to plough ahead with phasing out direct payments without considering how this will impact on farmers’ livelihoods and on the environment. It is essential that the Government undertakes the necessary work to understand exactly what the consequences of this transition will be.
“It is concerning that the roll-out is already underway without indications of how the scheme’s success will be measured. I urge Defra to publish precise and measurable objectives for ELM as soon as possible to account for how transition away from CAP will support the Government’s environmental aims.”
The report, titled Environmental Land Management and the Agricultural Transition, claims that communication delays have not enabled farmers to prepare adequately for the transition. Defra must develop a “clear engagement strategy” which connects with the full range of farmers and land managers, or its plans will risk “falling at the first hurdle”, it adds.
“Insufficient emphasis and care” has been taken to manage the process of transition itself, the report continues, with “years of delay and uncertainty” from Defra meaning that time is now short.
The report also asks Defra to publish an impact assessment, detailing the consequences of the agricultural transition for different sectors and regions, ahead of wider roll-out of aspects of the ELM scheme in 2022.
Mr Parish added that retaining the current agricultural budget until at least 2029 would provide “muchneeded assurance” to farmers that the Government is committed to sustained, long-term funding of the transition. He said: “These schemes will only be successful if uptake is high – and this can only happen if land managers are clear on how ELM will work for them.”
Described as the “centrepiece” of the Government’s new approach to farm support, Defra said the ELM scheme’s three tiers of entry (Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery) will enable “anyone from any farm or land type to participate at the right level”. Phasing out direct payments over the seven-year transition period will “allow farmers and land managers the time they need to adapt”, it added, saying alternative support includes productivity grants and Countryside Stewardship schemes remaining open to new applications in the first few years.
These schemes will only be successful if uptake is high NEIL PARISH MP