Key changes as Brexit looms

Negotiations are in full swing and by that point it is hoped that a new trade arrangement will have been put in place, and arrangements made for a new British Agricultural Policy (BAP) to take over from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The new British Agricultural Policy is likely to involve the following:

The amount the UK government will allocate to farming support – in cash terms (approximately £3.2bn) will be protected until the end of this Parliament, namely 2022.

Basic Payment will be paid in full in 2019, on the same basis as in 2018, and will still be funded through the CAP this year. Direct payments will again be paid in full in 2020, subject to a minor adjustment for simplification. From 2021 they will be gradually phased out over a seven-year transition period. The reductions will be more severe in the initial years for larger farming businesses.

From 2022 onwards, the Basic Payment will be progressively phased out, although exactly how this will occur has not yet been determined. This will then be replaced with a system of public money for public goods operated through NELMS (New Environmental Land Management Services).

There will also be additional money available for those who wish to collaborate to secure environmental improvements collectively at landscape scales.

There will also be funding for farmers who choose to leave the industry, and there will be financial incentives to encourage investment in technology and skills alongside infrastructure, public access and rural resilience.

With the Basic Payment to be scrapped, so – in theory – should be the onerous cross compliance rules and procedures which accompany it.

However, it is worth noting that much of the cross compliance obligations are now bound in law in any case, thus the indicated simplification might not materialise in reality.

Inspections will continue, in particular in respect of the ongoing environmental schemes which farmers might sign up to, but the indication is that these will become streamlined and more risk-based, in order to add simplification.

Although our government has only committed to protect expenditure at the current level to 2022, it is a realistic possibility that funding will then reduce, due to demands elsewhere, such as NHS and education. Similarly, it is not yet clear when farmers can apply for NELMS, nor how many applicants there can be during the seven-year transition period.

George Dickin, Farming Assistant (Shrewsbury), Strutt & Parker.