British Agricultural Policy

Page Kirk partner, Gary Brockway, comments on recent news for farmers.

Secretary of State for DEFRA at the Oxford Farming Conference yesterday laid out the government’s plans for a post Brexit agricultural policy.

He confirmed that the current levels of subsidy will be maintained until 2022, three years after the UK leaves the European Union. He also confirmed that following this transitional period the new British Agricultural Policy would move away from a predominantly land based basis and would make the farmers work for their money. A move that I believe, and in fact advocated in a previous blog, is the right decision.

It is time for farmers to focus on running their farms as a business and not be reliant on subsidies. It is right that the subsidies focus should move towards a reward basis for meeting the needs of the UK, whether that be maintaining the landscape or producing more efficiently.

I welcome this decision.

If any farmers are worried about the future, the Page Kirk Agricultural team would welcome a conversation regarding helping them plan for life in the post Brexit era.