A roadmap towards supporting farmers and landowners through a fairer system from next year have been published.
Plans to deliver a revised farming system in England, transforming the way farmers are supported beyond Brexit, have been set out by the Government. Changes will come into force over a period of seven years to help farmers adapt and plan for a future outside the EU. The Government plans to introduce a new system, tailored to the interests of farmers and land managers, rewarding them for sustainable farming practices.
The changes will be designed to ensure that by 2028, farmers can sustainably produce healthy food profitably without subsidy, whilst taking steps to benefit the environment, improve animal health and welfare and reduce carbon emissions.
The ‘Path to Sustainable Farming’ document sets out more detail on the upcoming changes and what they will mean for farmers. The key changes include:
The Government’s document also includes details of the proposed Environmental Land Management (ELM) Scheme, which aims to incentivise sustainable farming practices, create habitats for nature recovery and establish new woodland to help tackle climate change. ELM will consist of three components:
Work is ongoing to design the ELM scheme in collaboration with farmers and land managers and will continue next year, with the expected launch of a National Pilot in late 2021. Expressions of interest for the pilot are expected to open early next year.
Meanwhile, the Government also aims to simplify and improve existing schemes and their application processes further from January 2021 to reduce the burden on farmers.