Barclay announces at OFC  'Biggest upgrade to UK farming schemes' including 'A 10% increase in the average value of agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship  , ie 10% of 10% cf old BPS..so now 11% of old BPS. Premium payments for those with large environmental impact 'such as £765 per hectare for nesting plots for lapwing, and £1,242 per hectare for connecting river and floodplain habitat'. That is a lot, but hard to see how farmers with big barns full of cattle can achieve that.  

Only 3% uptake "farmers received only tiny sum from post-Brexit sustainability fund last year...While subsidies were cut by an average of 22% for farmers last year, the money paid out through the SFI equated to only 0.44% of the total funding plan for farmers, leaving farmers asking where the money is going. This year, the cuts are set to be even more stark, with the government planning to slash payments by 36%. "

Welsh version

The Sustainable Farming Scheme is broadly similar to the English SFI, except it requires 20% of a farm to go over to 'habitat' and 'trees' leading to mass protest 

English subsidies itemised 2022-23. Gove promises £2.4 B - about £1B less than Johnson promises below.  £1,4 on BPS (= old CAP) and nearly £0.6 on Countryside Stewardship - same name as old CAP)

'Further clarity' over ELMs Jan 2023 "In England, the Elms will now comprise three payment schemes:

The Sustainable Farming Incentive is being expanded to include payments for looking after hedgerows, grasslands and soils.

The Countryside Stewardship Plus will reward farmers for "taking coordinated action, working with neighbouring farms and landowners to support climate and nature aims". This includes natural flood management, peatland restoration and enhancing woodland."

Post-Brexit farm subsidies in England revealed Guardian says: "Farmers will be eligible for funding for up to 280 actions that protect environment under new system. New farm subsidies regime could be great for nature – if properly funded. The overhaul is intended to reward farmers for protecting nature and improving the environment. Farmers in England will be able to receive government funding for up to 280 different actions that protect the environment, from conserving hedgerows to maintaining peatlands, under a comprehensive overhaul of farming subsidies. The long-awaited announcement on Thursday shows farmers what will be expected of them if they apply for government incentives called environmental land management schemes (ELMs), worth £2.4bn a year for this parliament. (down over £one billion!)

Government Press Release

Full document

B Johnson promised farmers at Gisburn market: that subsidies would stay '100% guaranteed' -

Half of farmers face ruin "Many farmers are overawed by the complexity of the replacement system, which has not yet been fully fleshed out or explained by the government. "

CLA President Tufnell "told new Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, that she must fix the problems with the ELMS including clarity on what landowners will be paid."

Row brewing

Labour, Lib Dems & NFU calling for implementation of ELMs to be delayed,  arguing that it is incompatible with the cost of living crisis to pay farmers not to produce food. Far right (climate deniers) pushing for a rethink:  “Multiple government ambitions on land use have taken land out of food production. Food security should be as much a national priority as energy security." To which many of us wonder where they were in all the years we have been bangin on.

Minette Batters president of NFU slams nature recovery again at EFRA committee, calling for majority of ELMS funding to be in SFI. She said: "we have to be focusing on what's in the field and not just around the perimeters' The more we see what is happening with old EU subsidies, now ELMS, the more it looks like the rural version of the Tories 'trickle down' theory. Pay the big landowners for rewilding the moors, hoping the benefits trickle down to the poor small farmers.

Farmers still in limbo re ELMS (see below). "Four years after a new post-Brexit payments system was promised by ministers, confusion leaves bid to improve biodiversity in limbo. Farmers fear if they plant trees now they will not get the credit for it when the new schemes start 2027. There are too few details available about the expected new system, four years after it was promised by the government. We want to plant trees, but there may be financial penalties if we do.”  "

The government says - whenever talking about the new 'green' subsidies - "whilst producing high quality food and other products." yet there is not one penny to help deliver that. Farmers know they will be paying extra to produce that 'high quality' food, yet face competition from the other side of the world producing at lower standards.

Eustice has hit back at claims that ELMS line pockets of wealthy landowners 

The NFU, TFA and CLA had all called for at least 65 per cent of the budget to be spent on the SFI, the only universally accessible ELM component, in order to keep cash in the hands of ordinary farmers. 

CAAV says 'Don't waste transition period',  as next year will be the last ever BPS application process. "The UK's new environmental schemes replacing the EU's system - such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive - is not intended to replace that income for most farmers". 

Diversify!
Farmer refused planning permission to put up two camping pods to replace subsidies They would have "allowed the couple to source an alternative income stream to replace future subsidy loss" and they argued it would "futureproof the farm and the three employees". The planning officer refused saying the proposal has a harmful impact upon the openness and character of an important area of Green Belt near to the property."  Suspect there is going to be a lot of this

Don't cut

NFU ask for delay of one year before cutting subsidies. 

"It is seeking the postponement to BPS reductions in 2022 and 2023, alongside a review of Defra’s future farming programme for England." Minette: "I really fear for the future success of farming in this country if the government presses ahead with its current timetable to transition to its new agriculture policy schemes which simply aren’t ready,” said Mrs Batters. The Welsh government announced that it would extend the BPS until 2023. Scotland and Northern Ireland have similarly delayed changes to their regimes.

Farmers Guardian Eustice slaps down NFU over BPS cuts delay (link to come)

England heads the race to the bottom.

Welsh farmers welcome maintained BPS funding in 2022 FUW "shared the Welsh government’s frustration that the UK government’s promise to replace EU funding in full had been broken." (see right column)

Cumbrian farmer claims subsidy reforms are distraction just to buy us off.  BBC Today programme guest editor James Rebanks said they offered "bits of wilderness" to "buy us off". The "vast majority" of England was then being asked to be "more intensive, more industrially farmed", he said. "Those two things don't actually make sense, ecologically or in terms of food production." 

Local MP Rory Stewart said "They're going to end up favouring very large landowners and are going to be very difficult for small family farms." 

Farmers plough up land previously in stewardship to offset BPS loss. 

Environmental gains made under stewardship schemes risk being squandered over the coming years, as farmers begin to plough up land in a bid to recoup the upcoming loss of direct support in England.

EU Green Subsidies

From 2023, farmers must undertake actions beneficial to the climate, biodiversity and the environment, in return for 25% of their EU direct income support. Across the EU, these eco-schemes include leaving aside a set percentage of farmland for nature, more extensive livestock production, limiting chemical nitrogen usage, planting native trees, soil sampling and appropriate liming, crop diversification, or sowing multi-species swards.

Defra confirm cuts of 5-25% next year

Farmers to loose half their subsidies by 2024 "Ministers plan to cut so-called basic payments, which were the main source of funding under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, by a minimum of 50 per cent in four years’ time, according to documents seen by the Financial Times and two people briefed on the matter." Nov 2020

English farmers currently receiving more than £30,000 a year are set to face cuts even higher than 50 per cent by 2024, with the slice of payments between £30,000 and £50,000 to be cut by 55 per cent from their pre-Brexit rates, the portion up to £150,000 to be cut by 65 per cent, and any payments beyond that to be slashed by 70 per cent.  

New Landscape for UK farming. Announcement by Eustice spells out how subsidies will be cut, by $1.8B, but not how a single penny will be spent on 'Greening'. They promise the earth, but deliver nothing. 

Severely Disadvantaged Areas will suffer most.

Compare with EU 'Farm to Fork Strategy, and the ongoing debate about it.

Subsidy cuts  Direct payments will be phased out on time while the roll out of ELM to English common land is delayed, rendering farms unviable. 

3/4 of CLA members consider ELMS payments will be insufficeint 

Eustice "batted away concerns about institutional landlords signing up to environmental schemes with tenants contracted to deliver them, saying this would ‘not necessarily’ take away a revenue stream for tenants." 

Subsidy Cuts

All subsidies will be halved after 2024, with a bigger slice for larger farms. But it will be small farms hit hardest, as they rely for subsidies for a higher proportion of their income. A small farm round here (Lancashire) will earn about £20k/yr of which £17k could come from subsidies. In the large farms on the other side of the country – earning say a quarter of a million,  the proportion of their income relying on subsidies (say 100k) is much less. They have bigger farms and more valuable crops.   "The  per-acre subsidy is now to be replaced by a more grant-based system. Grant-based systems need forms, inspection and contributions that cost time. Large farms will adjust, although almost certainly prices will rise. But, tenant farmers will be particularly hard hit,especially those without capital to invest in land they don’t own, and in areas of marginal viability." Quite simply, many English upland farms will go to the wall (albeit dry stone).The areas that will be hit hardest will be in the North and West of England The promise of levelling up is actually of wiping out.  Scotland and Wales are likely to keep their subsidy systems similar to those in EU.

It will be lamb and dairy farms for the slaughter. What is clear, in the government's words; "The changeover will mean upheaval for farmers, particularly sheep and dairy – which better for soil than arable, where “some may be unwilling or unable to adjust. Ministers have confirmed a lump-sum payment (=2024-28 payments) for those who decide they want to retire "with dignity". 

Lump Sum Payment

Defra said this payment was to help farmers in England retire from the sector. By doing so it was proposed that land would be made available and unviable farms would be supported out of business. Defra believed this would present opportunities for existing farms to expand or new entrants to get into the sector. Applicants would receive a lump sum payment linked to their remaining direct payment amount for the years 2022-2027. In return, landowners would have to sell or rent their land, while tenants would have to surrender their tenancy. 

Concerns from Sustain & LWA include "The option to gift land could create a loophole that would allow landowners to transfer their land to immediate family while receiving a lump sum payment from the taxpayer. "

EU to introduce measures " To halt the decline of small farms and protect them from the intensification of agriculture fostered by decades of previous policies. There has been a huge intensification of farming and small farms have been lost. The total number of all types of farm in the EU fell from 14.5m to 10.3m. 

Eustice says funding will be 3-way split. This means farmers will get a third, local consortia a third, and national - big - projects the rest.

Grants

"The  per-acre subsidy is now to be replaced by a more grant-based system. Grant-based systems need forms, inspection and contributions to cost. Large farms such as my family (Heseltine) company will adjust, although almost certainly prices will rise. However, tenant farmers will be particularly hard hit, especially those without capital to invest in land they don’t own, and in areas of marginal viability. "

There are NO grants for growing local fresh foods to help poorer people get healthier.

The US farm subsidy system does just that. Their 2019 Farm Bill  "provides permanent funding for farmers markets & local food programs, including money for organizations working to train the next generation of farmers It extends funding for SNAP - Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (previously 'food stamps' now food cards), where about $50B is paid to poorest 40m people.

Tenant Farmers

Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) Chief Executive, George Dunn, says:

“Up to half of the tenanted sector of agriculture in England and Wales operates under Farm Business Tenancies (FBTs) which are characterised both by very short lengths of term and restrictive clauses.  In many cases tenants are not allowed to enter Government schemes for the improvement of the environment without their landlord’s consent and it is also often the case that landlords themselves reserve the right to take the benefit of new schemes themselves.  It is also the case that landlords often reserve the right to the benefit of private arrangements for carbon and biodiversity offsetting...We cannot support a situation where the funding is removed from tenant farmers and is received instead by their landlords.  Landlords are entitled to receive rent in return for granting exclusive occupation of their land to active farmers.  They should not be able to capitalise directly through Government schemes and other arrangements, Despite the TFA’s strong lobbying, it is unfortunate that the Government decided not to include provisions within the Agriculture Act which would have protected access to new schemes for tenants occupying under FBTs". 

Ministers unveil next steps. There will be more trees, meadows and wetlands - and fewer sheep and cows as controversial EU farm subsidies are phased out. The new system, named Environmental Land Management (ELM), will pay farmers if they prevent floods, plant woods and help wildlife. Tier 1 will reward farmers for basic activities such as crop rotation, soil conservation and stopping chemicals polluting waterways.

Wildlife and Countryside Link said "“The overall impression here is an abiding lack of detail.”
The government has accepted that the 'great farm transition' is very much a work in progress – and details will follow on the road to the revolution in 2028. 

Dr Julia Aglionby, executive director of the Foundation for Common Land (FCL), has written to the Prime Minister to warn of the ‘impending car crash’, which she estimates will leave 14,000 farms at risk of being loss making or earning less than half the national minimum wage by 2024,  

NFU president Minette Batters said: ““There’s going to be real pain for lowland beef, upland beef, and sheep farmers. How much pain we don’t know until we’ve seen the details we’ve been waiting four years for.”

The new subsidies apply onl;y to England. Wales and Scotland may retain their present system

Subsidies wot subsidies

Devolved Ministers demand "assurances that all EU funding for the countryside will be fully replaced, after it emerged Treasury proposals would see rural budgets slashed by more than £455m. " The UK’s planned settlement would cut funding over the 2021-22 to 2024-25 period for Scotland by £170.1m, Wales by £160m and Northern Ireland by £34m.  Nov 2020

Farmers Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts said the deficits quoted in the letter were ‘staggering’. “If they are accurate, they represent a complete departure from the promise made just 12 months ago in the run-up to the General Election, and a decision which would be extremely damaging to Welsh agriculture, rural communities and the reputation of the UK Government,” he added.

Farmers to get only 2.9b - instead of 3.5b used to get from EU - and promised wouldl be maintained. Dec '19 Chancellor  Sajid Javid said the government will provide 2.9 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) of funding over two years  More from Bloomberg 

ELMS
"The challenge of finding a payment mechanism which rewards outcomes, some of which are very difficult to measure, particularly on a farm basis, or can only be seen over a number of years, has just proven too challenging in the timescale, but it remains where we want to go.” SFFS suggestion from 10 farmer groups

Industry leaders have warned farmers will face ‘major financial hardship’ during the transition away from direct payments, with Defra planning to maintain the income foregone payment model for the foreseeable future. 

Previously.. There was much talk about a 'Green Brexit' with ELMS promising to pay 'public money for public goods', although never made clear how. 'ELMS policy delayed due to virus', except shortly after in  August 'it bears a passing resemblance to the old schemes' 


"Farmers will not be paid for the value of the environmental services they provide, and should only expect to receive income foregone plus costs – as yet undefined – if they choose to participate. The papers also explain farmers will be paid for actions, as opposed to outcomes, in a marked shift from an earlier vision for the scheme."DEFRA more bothered about ELMS spreadsheets than farmers. "ELMs will require Natural England consent, which looks at one public good, biodiversity, while ELMs has six public goods which may best be optimised by adjusting biodiversity ambitions but increasing, say, public engagement."
See how ELMS will NOT fund improving Soil Health 
According to George Eustice there will 3 tiers 1. SFI supports farmers 'holistic approach' like IPM and soil health 2. Like Countryside Stewardship only simpler  2nd  3rd - ecosystem services to woodland creation and peat restoration.

Tenant Farmers Association accuse Defra Minister Lord Benyon of giving a ‘completely incorrect’ account of a recent meeting with Farming Minister Victoria Prentis to the House of Lords. Benyon had said the TFA had not raised any issues, but Dunn said: "The TFA has been consistent and robust in its lobbying, pointing out there are real issues for tenant farmers occupying land under Farm Business Tenancies, both in terms of their ability to access the new arrangements through the ELM scheme and the risk to their security of tenure from their landlords taking land back to enter schemes themselves. "

National Audit Office 

"Defra has not yet (Sept 21) established objectives to support its high-level vision for ELM. The outline business case for ELM sets out 24 objectives related to the government’s 25-Year Environment Plan and net zero carbon ambition, but these are described as provisional.4 HM Treasury guidance requires more specific strategic policy objectives to turn the vision for ELM into an implementable programme. Defra told the NAO that development of these objectives is in progress but cannot be completed until government has made key decisions about its approach to meeting UK carbon budget targets and set legally binding targets in the Environment Bill....

Defra has not yet regained enough trust from farmers to be confident in achieving a high level of participation in ELM. Defra lost farmers’ trust as a result of difficulties with its management of past agricultural subsidy schemes. Delays in informing farmers which actions they will be paid for in the SFI pilot and SFI2022, and how much they will be paid, have made matters worse. Defra sees rebuilding trust as vital, but both the NAO’s and Defra’s own evidence show it has not yet succeeded. "

Richard Smith , Environmental Law Expert  commented: “It is no surprise that so few farmers have signed up for the government’s new programme when its implementation has been so slow and key elements have yet to be published by Defra.   

ELMS announcement Feb 2022 " Our reforms will support productive and sustainable farming and food production alongside environmental, climate and animal welfare outcomes. "

Strutt & Parker "calculations suggest that even if payments under ELMs were five times higher than those paid under the current Countryside Stewardship Scheme – which they won’t be – arable farmers could still face a fall of up to 20% in net profits." "Cuts to Basic Payments will mean to profitability is focusing farmers' minds, particularly in the arable, mixed and lowland livestock sectors. Reductions in payments will be implemented quite swiftly, with larger farmers facing the loss of two-thirds of their BPS by 2024."

"The challenge of finding a payment mechanism which rewards outcomes, some of which are very difficult to measure, particularly on a farm basis, or can only be seen over a number of years, has just proven too challenging in the timescale, but it remains where we want to go.” 

This was after long consultation  looking into main two ways of rewarding environmental benefits - either by paying farmers for what they may have lost in production for going green, or on basis of improving natural capital. The Treasury ruled the latter out as too expensive, and first will not run into WTO rules.

EFAs

In July 2020, the government said rules about growing diverse crops, fallow land and hedges will be abolished in 2021. This includes Ecological Focus Areas – which required farmers to ‘green’ a proportion of their land. The government said it was cutting this ‘red tape’ because the EU found it was having only a marginal effect.  (2017 'Not yet effective') 


Now we have nothing.

What our government forgot to say was that the main recommendation of the EU's 2017 Report was 

"For the next CAP reform, the Commission should develop a complete intervention logic for the EU environmental and climate-related action regarding agriculture, including specific targets and based on up-to-date scientific understanding of the phenomena concerned”