Funding commitments provide short-term reassurance for farmers, but for the longer term uncertainty remains
The Government will match the current level of agricultural funding until 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has announced. The statement brings limited reassurance for farmers, given the length of agricultural planning and production cycles. Uncertainty remains about the level and type of subsidies that will be extended to agriculture once the UK leaves the EU.
Defra Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom said the guarantee meant that farmers could be assured of current levels of funding until 2020, and that any agri-environment schemes agreed before the Autumn Statement would be fully funded, even when these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.
Reporting the story, Horticulture Week noted that the 'current level of agricultural funding under CAP Pillar 1 will be upheld until 2020, as part of the transition to new domestic arrangements'. This should mean that farmers can count on receiving the Basic Payment Scheme through to 2020 and that agri-environment schemes already in place are guaranteed through to their conclusion.
Horticulture Week also reported that the National Farmers' Union (NFU) is working with Defra to understand the position of those farmers applying for Countryside Stewardship this September.
Read the Treasury's statement here and Horticulture Week's report here.
Find out more about Sustain's work for a greener and fairer food and farming system here.
Published Monday 15 August 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
