British farmers to be subsidised for sustainable practices

British farmers will be able to claim payments for sustainable practices such as looking after hedgerows as part of an overhaul of the post-Brexit agriculture sector.

The UK’s exit from the EU allowed it to leave the bloc’s common agricultural policy, where farmers get payments based on the land they work. British farmers were hit by high costs related to the pandemic and Brexit.

The government says the incentives will provide more certainty for growers to make business plans as direct payments are phased out. As part of the incentives to be rolled out, farmers can also get paid for not using insecticides, protecting grassland and including crops such as beans and peas, the department for environment, food & rural affairs said. The UK produces just more than half of the food it consumes.

Farming groups have long awaited details of the measures — which follow a pilot programme — for more clarity on how subsidies will work. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board said it is a “step in the right direction.”

Still, one grower said environment practices are already in place and bemoaned continued cost pressures.

“We’ll be rewarded for the good practices that we’re already doing,” said Olly Harrison, a grains farmer based near Liverpool. “The support doesn’t even touch the increases in price of fuel, fertiliser.”

Policymakers across Europe are starting to pay more attention to the environmental impact of producing food, including methane emissions and the usage of fertilisers and pesticide, but are facing resistance.

While parts of the measures are welcome, the government needs to do more to help farmers make changes and shift to greener practices, the Soil Association said.

“The government is failing to make clear how they will give farmers confidence to invest in the radical changes needed for a resilient and sustainable, agroecological farming sector,” Gareth Morgan, head of farming policy at the association, said.