The UK will maintain environmental protections, safeguard animal
welfare and support the production of high quality food, the
Prime Minister will say tomorrow as she meets farmers and food
producers at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, Powys.
will set out the Government’s
plans for a post-Brexit farming policy which works for farmers
and food producers, while improving the environment, by replacing
the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy – which awards subsidies
based on the amount of land farmed – with a new system of public
money for public goods.
In a roundtable with farmers and agricultural organisations
including the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, Farmers Union
Wales, NFU Cymru and the CLA, the Prime Minister will also
reiterate her commitment to maintaining current funding levels
until the end of this Parliament to ensure farmers have the
certainty they need to plan for their business.
Prime Minister said:
“This Government is committed to supporting the half a
million people who work in agriculture and growing our world
leading food and drinks sector, which contributes over £100
billion to the UK economy. But we also need to protect the farmed
environment for future generations.
“Leaving the EU presents us with a unique opportunity to
transform our food, farming and environmental policies so we can
have a healthy and prosperous agricultural industry that is fit
for the future, and helps us to leave the environment in a better
place than we found it.
“Scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy, and introducing a
simpler system which provides funds in return for public goods,
like improving water quality, reducing emissions and planting
wild flower meadows to boost biodiversity, is fundamental to our
new approach.
“I want to make the most of the freedoms provided by Brexit
to design a new scheme that is less bureaucratic, and does away
with the overly prescriptive information farmers currently have
to provide to apply for grants.
“I commend our hard working farmers up and down the country,
and here in Wales, who deserve better than the fundamentally
flawed CAP system. That is why I want to hear from them today
about what they need so we deliver a farming policy which
supports the whole industry.
“And while our proposals are for England only, I look forward
to working with the Farming unions, Welsh Government and
stakeholders to best serve our farmers here as they develop a
scheme specific to Wales.”
During her visit the Prime Minister will also meet with the Wales
Young Farmers Club, and stall-holders in the Food Hall, sponsored
by Food is GREAT, alongside setting out measures from the 25 Year
Environment Plan to protect the nation’s countryside and steps to
bring forward the first Environment Bill in over 20 years.
