Green strategy will be delayed, warns MP

Farm payments worth around £3bn under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) had been guaranteed until 2022 by the Government, but Mr Gove went a step further this week.

The Defra Secretary of State told the Oxford Farming Conference that he envisaged guaranteeing Basic Payment Scheme monies for a transitional period in England which should last a number of years beyond 2022, after which BPS will be replaced by a system of “public money for public goods”.

He said a Command Paper will be published by the Government this spring which will add more detail to the Government’s plans for farming, but he wanted to develop a scheme as part of post-Brexit policy that is accessible to almost any landowner or manager who wishes to enhance the natural environment by planting woodland, providing new habitats for wildlife, increasing biodiversity, contributing to improved water quality and returning cultivated land to wildflower meadows or other more natural states.

Responding to his speech, Wakefield MP Mary Creagh, a former Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: “It’s been a year since the Environmental Audit Committee recommended linking farm payments to environmental protections, but today’s announcement means this change will come two years later than planned and apply in England only.

“We have waited nearly three years for an environment plan, without which key protections will be lost after Brexit. Announcing the subsidy before the strategy is like putting the cart before the horse.”

In his address to industry representatives in Oxford, Mr Gove described the CAP as “unjust, inefficient” and that it “drives perverse outcomes”.

He said: “It rewards farmers for sticking to methods of production that are resource-inefficient and also incentivises an approach to environmental stewardship which is all about mathematically precise field margins and not truly ecologically healthy landscapes.”

The Liberal Democrats Defra spokesman, Tim Farron, claimed Mr Gove was implying that farm payments are a reward for inefficiency and that this was “an insult to British farmers” that shows “he has no understanding of the reality of farming in this country”.

“The overwhelming majority of livestock and dairy farmers would be in the red if it wasn’t for direct farm payments,” Mr Farron said.

“Gove’s announcement also does nothing to address the impending tariff catastrophe facing farmers once we leave the single market,” he added.

Commenting on the future of trade with the EU in his speech, Mr Gove said: “By definition, we cannot yet know the final outcome of a trade negotiation which is about to get underway, and Defra is preparing for every eventuality. But we are confident of building a new economic partnership with the EU that guarantees tariff-free access for agri-food goods across each other’s borders.”

Countryside groups reacted more positively to the Environment Secretary’s speech.

Patrick Begg, of the National Trust, which has advocated such a move, said plans to move from EU farming subsidies to a system which rewards environmental protection after Brexit “will help to shape a sustainable future for farming while giving birds, bees and butterflies the environment they need not only to survive, but to thrive”.

“We all want to see a vibrant and healthy countryside and the strong commitment to put the environment at the heart of the replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy is the best way to achieve that,” he said.

Christopher Price, director of policy at the Country Land and Business Association, said: “This speech is the latest evidence that Government is embracing our vision for a new policy based on rewarding farmers for the range of public benefits they deliver.

“We are pleased the Secretary of State has listened to our concerns on this issue and extended the period of operation of the existing basic payment scheme to ensure a full and smooth transition.”

National Farmers’ Union president Meurig Raymond said Mr Gove’s speech was “a positive signal for the farming industry” and that he looked forward to seeing more details.

“Without the productive, resilient and profitable farm businesses across the country, we will not have the people to look after the natural environment,” Mr Raymond added.