Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has warned the Government’s Agriculture Bill plans British agriculture are effectively a “notice period” for farmers to leave the industry.
Speaking earlier this week at the party’s conference in Brighton, the Lib Dem Environment spokesman said: “The transition period set out in the Agriculture Bill has the potential of being a seven-year notice to quit for farmers.
We desperately need funding guaranteed from the Treasury beyond 2020 otherwise we’ll end up with the most environmentally-friendly agriculture system without any farmers to deliver it.
Agriculture Bill
Last week Defra Secretary Michael Gove set out the Government’s major post-Brexit agriculture policy to invest in the environment and take back control for farmers after almost 50 years under EU rules.
The new system will follow a seven-year agricultural transition period to give farmers time to adjust as they plan for the future legislation.
The Agriculture Bill sets out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for “public goods” – such as better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding.
It will replace the current subsidy system of Direct Payments with a new Environmental Land Management system starting from next year.
