Agriculture Bill to boost environment and food production
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If you would like us to monitor this bill for you, and you have not
already done so, please select it in your keywords. Landmark
legislation to unleash potential of the farming sector for decades
to come New Agriculture Bill will free farmers from the bureaucracy
of the Common Agricultural Policy, boosting productivity and
rewarding environmental improvements Farmers will have seven years
to adjust to a new system which puts...Request free trial
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A future where farmers are
properly supported to farm more innovatively and protect the
environment is a step closer today following the introduction of
the Agriculture Bill.
The landmark legislation introduced today will
provide a boost to the industry after years of inefficient
and overly bureaucratic policy dictated to farmers by the
EU.
It sets out how farmers and land managers in
England will in the future be rewarded with public money for
“public goods” – such as better air and water quality, higher
animal welfare standards, improved access to the countryside or
measures to reduce flooding. This will contribute to the
government’s commitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050,
while at the same time, helping to boost farmers’
productivity.
This will replace the current subsidy system
of Direct Payments which pays farmers for the total amount of
land farmed, skewing payments towards the largest landowners
rather than those farmers delivering specific public
benefits.
Instead, the new measures will provide a
better future for agriculture in this country, maximising the
potential of the land for food production and for delivering
public goods.
The reforms set out in the Bill are supported
by the manifesto commitment to maintain overall annual funding
for farm support at current levels for the duration of this
Parliament.
Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers
said:
“Our landmark Agriculture Bill will transform
British farming, enabling a balance between food production and
the environment which will safeguard our countryside and farming
communities for the future.
“This is one of the most important
environmental reforms for many years, rewarding farmers for the
work they do to safeguard our environment and helping us meet
crucial goals on climate change and protecting nature and
biodiversity.
“We will move away from the EU’s bureaucratic
Common Agricultural Policy and towards a fairer system which
rewards our hard-working farmers for delivering public goods,
celebrating their world-leading environmental work and
innovative, modern approach to food production.
“We will continue to champion British produce
and support farmers to adapt to our new pioneering approach to
agriculture through a seven-year transition period in England,
ensuring we unleash the potential of our farmers for the
future.”
The new Bill champions British food by
improving transparency and fairness in the supply chain from farm
to fork and through investing in new technology and research to
ensure our world-renowned food producers remain competitive and
innovative.
Investing in the foundations of food
production, such as clean air, soils and water, will safeguard
our food security and the Bill will legally require any UK
government to report regularly on food security to
Parliament.
By collecting data from across the supply
chain, the government will also help food producers strengthen
their negotiating position at the farm gate and seek a fairer
return.
In order to spend more on boosting
productivity and environmental benefits, Direct Payments will be
phased out over an agricultural transition period, which is due
to start in 2021 and run for seven years.
Later in the agricultural transition, the
government plans to ‘delink’ Direct Payments from the requirement
to farm the land, a requirement that currently exists under EU
law. This will give farmers
greater flexibility to plan for their future as these payments
will be able to be used by farmers to invest in their business,
diversify their activities or help new people enter the
sector.
For farmers new to environmental work or
hoping to do more than they currently do under the future
Environment Land Management (ELM) scheme, the transition period
will also allow them time to understand how new schemes can work
best for their farm. Farmers and land managers can seek advice
and information from Natural England’s team of advisors on the
possible options available both now with a new Countryside
Stewardship application window opening this year, and in the
future when the future ELM scheme is fully rolled
out.
The government has already announced that the
funding available for Direct Payments for 2020 will be the same
as for 2019, and the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative
Continuity) Bill has been introduced to Parliament to enable us
to make Direct Payments to farmers for the 2020 scheme year–
giving much-welcomed certainty to our farmers and food
producers.
For subsequent years we are committed to
matching the current budget available to farmers in every year of
this Parliament, providing certainty and stability in advance of
transitioning to the new system in England and phasing out direct
payments in favour of rewarding the provision of “public
goods”.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Agriculture Bill Factsheet
We introduced our landmark Agriculture Bill to
Parliament on 16 January.
The Agriculture Bill gives us the necessary
powers to design England’s agricultural policy so that we deliver
strong outcomes for farmers and the environment when we leave the
EU.
Agriculture is devolved. This means that once we’re outside of the EU each UK administration will have the flexibility to develop agricultural policy suited to their own unique circumstances. The Bill will allow us to move away from the EU’s bureaucratic Common Agricultural Policy. In doing so, in England, we will move towards a new approach where farmers and land managers are able to be rewarded with public money for providing public goods, through:
The introduction of this Bill has given us the opportunity to make improvements to the original Agriculture Bill introduced in 2018, taking into account feedback from those working in the agricultural sector. The new Bill maintains our flagship policy to pay those who look after our land and animals for the provision of public goods, particularly the environmental public goods listed above. It also now includes more of a focus on food production. Environmentally-friendly farming and food production can go hand in hand. Change won’t happen overnight. There will be a seven-year transition period - from 2021 to the end of 2027 - so that farmers can plan and adjust to a new domestic farming system. During the transition period, Defra will phase out Direct Payments in England. We’ll reduce the payments fairly – in the first year, the biggest reductions will be applied to the higher payment bands. Defra also plans to ‘delink’ Direct Payments from the requirement to farm the land with farmers having a choice on how they use their ‘delinked’ payments, for instance, to:
Alongside these changes, Defra will also invest in supporting farmers to improve productivity.
Individuals can still apply for Countryside
Stewardship (CS) agreements in the first years of the transition,
allowing them to secure longer-term funding while the system
changes. CS also allows individuals to put in place environmental
practices that will prepare them well for the new Environmental
Land Management (ELM) scheme. No one in a CS agreement will be
unfairly disadvantaged when we transition to new arrangements
under ELM.
You can read the Agriculture Bill in full and follow its progress through Parliament. For more general information on future changes to English agricultural policy, please read our Farming is Changing leaflet.
What’s new in this Bill
More information on the food security
provision
The UK has a high level of food security that
allows consumers to access a range of domestic and imported
produce.
Currently, over half of the food we eat is
produced in the UK. The rest is imported, with 28% coming
from the EU and 19% from other countries.
This report will allow us to build on our
understanding of the UK’s food security landscape and help inform
future policy.
The report is likely to cover a range of
current issues including:
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