EU-style farm subsidies will continue for five years after Brexit, Michael Gove has confirmed – but agriculture leaders say too many questions remain about the future of the sector in Scotland.
Appearing at the Oxford Farming Conference, the Environment Secretary said support would continue at the current EU level of £3 billion a year until 2022.
A transitional two-year period will then follow, during which Gove aims to limit the largest payments through a cap or other measures. After this period, government support will be based on the provision of “public goods”, such as the planting of meadows, with the overall pot at “broadly” the same level.
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Gove called the current set-up, based on the amount of land owned by farmers, “unjust” and inefficient, and said lowering environmental or animal welfare standards in future trade deals would be “foolish”, also insisting European producers want to secure continued tariff-free trade with the UK.
The comments precede the spring publication of the UK Government’s agriculture plans, and Scottish Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said Gove’s speech “leaves far too many questions unanswered”.
Welcoming the continuation of basic payments, he went on: “While this guarantee provides a degree of certainty and clarity, it does not cover a whole variety of vital support schemes such as for our hill farmers, sheep and beef support, new entrants, and forestry and environmental support programmes, which are crucial to ensure the continued economic wellbeing of all of Scotland’s rural communities
“I have continually highlighted to Mr Gove the fact that without support for our hill farmers – under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) scheme continuing in Scotland – many of them would give up farming and the impacts on rural Scotland would be devastating.
“While the guarantees issued today are welcome, having been sought by me for nearly a year-and-a-half, it leaves far too many questions unanswered for any comfort to be taken.”
Andrew McCornick, president of agriculture union NFU Scotland, welcomed continued support for food production and a commitment to tariff-free trade, adding: “While the speech focused on how Defra will deliver for England, Scottish farmers and crofters now need to hear more about what the future holds for them. Reiteration of the funding commitment to 2022 provides some certainty through what will continue to be an uncertain era for Scotland’s farmers and crofters.
“That period must be fully utilised to develop and implement a new support regime that fits Scotland’s agricultural landscape and which rewards activity, incentivises innovation and productivity, and recognises good stewardship of a flourishing environment, allowing farmers and crofters the opportunity to manage and adapt to change.”
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