Funding

If Defra’s latest document is anything to go by, the path of agricultural transition will be beset by instances in which bureaucratic ideology butts up against the realities of farming and food production.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has paid £1.67 billion of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money to more than 95 per cent of farmers in the first day of the payment window.

We understand farmers are anxious about the changes outlined by Defra in its agricultural transition plan this week, but that change will offer real opportunities for the sector, says Farming Minister Victoria Prentis.

Defra has confirmed farmers in England are set to lose 50 per cent of their direct payment by 2024.

This week, Defra published its agricultural transition plan (ATP), which sets out some of the major milestones for the sector over the next seven years. Abi Kay reports.

Farming customers of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank could claim thousands of pounds in a High Court case against the bank.

2020 has been a challenging year for farmers, but with the end of the transition period, changes to direct payments and new trade deals on the horizon, 2021 may bring further hardship, says Conservative peer Anne McIntosh.

Brexit will create winners and losers in farming, but the direction of travel makes me fear there will be more losers than winners, says Oliver Dowding, an apple grower in South East Somerset.

While for the most part agriculture has avoided the worst effects of Covid-19, minds are certainly starting to focus on the breadth of change heading the industry’s way in 2021, namely Brexit and the shifting sands of farm support.

Industry leaders have warned farmers will face ‘major financial hardship’ during the transition away from direct payments, with Defra planning to maintain the income foregone payment model for the foreseeable future.