Midland Farmer


EDITORIAL


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Defra plans still lack detail for ELMs


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Midland Farmer is a controlled circulation magazine published monthly for farmers and growers in the Midlands (Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire) or companies supplying goods and services to the sector. To be included on the circulation list, a farmer must have a minimum of 70 acres of land, or 50 dairy/beef stock, or 50 breeding sows/250 growing stock, or 15,000 laying hens/broiler chickens. Intensive horticulture units are required to have a minimum of two hectares.


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overnment plans to phase out direct pay- ments and introduce a new system of envi- ronmental support were confi rmed again last month – but left farmers none the wiser in terms of the difference it will make to their earn- ing potential. Defra secretary George Eustice described his roadmap for the abolition of basic payments and the introduction of the Environmental Land Man- agement (ELM) scheme as the biggest change to farming in 50 years.


Mr Eustice is certainly right about that. It will


mean a major upheaval for the industry – and many farmers will fi nd it hard to adjust to life without receiving annual payment which often makes up a sizeable proportion of their income. As the NFU points out, the annual basic pay- ment has been a lifeline for many farmers – espe- cially when prices or growing conditions have been volatile. As a result, taking them away will surely put some farms out of business. The government says farmers will able to re- coup the money lost through other means – includ-


Contents


ing payments for environmental work under the ELM scheme. Other grants to help farms ramp up productivity will also be available.


The problem is that while Mr Eustice announced lots of detail about the payments he is removing, he was less forthcoming when it came to how much farmers would be able to earn from ELM. Most people in agriculture accept that change needs to happen. But it is diffi cult – and in some cases impossible – for farmers to plan and prepare their businesses for the future without details of ELM payment rates. What we do know is that direct payments will be halved by 2024 and gone altogether by 2028. What we don’t know is any detail about what will be put in their place. That makes budgeting and invest- ing for the future very hard indeed. Mr Eustice says he wants to work with the in- dustry to decide how much ELM payments will be worth. A consultation is due to take place in 2021 and a decision will then be made. For farm- ers planning for the future, that decision can’t come soon enough.


OPINIONJohann Tasker


Vol 9 • No 12 • December 2020


News .................................................................... 4 Arable .................................................................. 8 In the field ........................................................12 Muck & Slurry .................................................17 Professional Services ................................. 25


Conservation & Land Management .......29 Livestock .......................................................... 33 Midland Machinery .................................... 35 Final say ........................................................... 39


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