On January 31, the United Kingdom left the European Union, and at the beginning of the year, the transition period that followed the withdrawal ends. Now the British government provided parts of the agricultural policy that would be applied in England afterwards.
According to Swedish Radio, after the end of the year, the new English agricultural policy will enter a new transitional period. During that period, English farmers would be able to maintain the same levels of support for agriculture as they were during EU membership. Then the subsidy will gradually be replaced by the subsidy which will depend to a large extent on the production of the farms, for example the type of animal husbandry. The goal, according to the British government, is to contribute, among other things, to better animal husbandry and more sustainable methods of production.
“We will reward farmers for doing things differently, for producing in a more sustainable way,” Britain’s Agriculture Minister George Eustice told the BBC.
According to Swedish Radio, the plans must have won admiration from both agricultural and environmental organizations. However, the British Farmers Trade Association is calling for more clarity on what future subsidies should look like in detail, and according to the radio channel, the organization fears the policy will over time lead to a significant loss of income for many farms. . Critics also fear that the new policy may lead to an increase in food imports.
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have their own agricultural policies and it is not clear if they will follow the English example.
This article was published on Tuesday, December 1, 2020
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