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Spring / Summer 2019
Aspects of Land
It has been eight months
since the Agriculture Bill
was published. What changes
has it brought so far?
L
ast September,
landowners were
finally given a firm
insight into the path
the Government will
take as it reshapes
domestic agricultural
policy with its new
Agriculture Bill.
Few would have been surprised at the
long-awaited Bill’s sentiment.
Headlines included the phasing out of
direct subsidies and a move to payments
for delivering public goods through
environmental land management
contracts, which had already been
strongly hinted at by Michael Gove,
Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs. However, there
were some surprises, such as capitalised
payments for farmers that could help
structure retirement plans.
The Bill received a mixed reaction from
the industry initially, and lobby groups
have been working to influence the finer
detail since last September.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
has expressed disappointment at the lack
of: “Comprehensive measures to improve
the environment and productivity and
tackle volatility” and a failure to offer a
long-term solution to labour issues.
NFU President Minette Batters
says: “The Bill, as described in the
announcement, falls short of our
aspirations in these regards.”
The CLA is supportive of a new
contractual approach to environmental
land management, but has issued a
warning over cuts to direct payments
going too far, too fast.
“Proposals to reduce payments in
manageable increments, spread across
the farming industry, will enable
businesses to avoid the risk of rapid
change with no time to prepare,” says
its President Tim Breitmeyer.
Despite the announcement only being
made eight months ago, Savills Research
suggests the contents of the Bill have been
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