The Path to Sustainable Farming: An Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024.

The Agricultural Transition Plan 2021-2024 is organised in 4 Parts and 5 Annexes (A to E) and sets out the changes that the government is going to make to agricultural policy in England from 1 January 2021, covering also what these changes will mean for farmers and land managers. Part 1 – Agricultural Transition – provides an overview and timeline of the government commitments, post EU Exit, to achieve a renewed agricultural sector by 2027. The Part outlines how the untargeted Direct payments to farmers (Basic Payment Scheme - BPS) will be gradually reduced and phased out by 2027, and the free up money will be reinvested to support agriculture in different ways through Environmental Land Management schemes. Plan's objective is: by 2028 there will be a renewed agricultural sector, producing healthy food for consumption at home and abroad, where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy, and farming and the countryside contributing significantly to environmental goals including addressing climate change.
Part 2 - The Schemes – lists the initiatives that will be put in place for the transition and groups them in four categories. 1) Paying for environmental and animal welfare outcomes - from 2024, full new schemes will be introduced to reward farmers for producing public goods, and in preparation to this Environmental Land Management offer, between 2021-2024, farmers will be helped to manage their land sustainably. The schemes that will start from 2021 are: extension of current Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship (available for those who already have an agreement which is achieving positive environmental outcomes, and who wish to continue); new Countryside Stewardship agreements (available for those who want to undertake a wider range of more ambitious environmental activities and receive capital payments); the Environmental Land Management National Pilot (for farmers who want to be involved in helping and co-design the full scheme), Sustainable Farming Incentive (available to all farmers in receipt of BPS from 2022 onwards). Further information on each of these schemes, including objectives and outline scheme design, can be found in Annex B.
Part 2, scheme 2) Improving farm prosperity – the schemes include: grant options which will help farmers invest in productivity measures, opportunities to access land, infrastructure and support for new entrants seeking to develop new land-based businesses, support to invest in new slurry stores and equipment, opportunities for innovation initiatives and training programs. Further information on each of these schemes, including objectives and outline scheme design, can be found in Annex C.
Part 2 Scheme 3) Direct Payments, including lump sums – Basic Payment Scheme will be simplified (greening rules will be abolished as will the rule that you must use all your entitlements at least once every two years) and there will be a lump sum available for farmers who wish to exit the sector Further information can be found in Annex D. Part 2 Scheme 4) Regulation of legal requirements – from 2021 there will be improvement in the way existing rules and processes are managed, and through consultation with farmers and land managers a new regulatory approach will be designed and implemented from 2024. The main objective is to have a clear distinction, and coherent relationship, between the basic requirements farmers are obliged to meet by law, and scheme standards where they are paid to go beyond this minimum. Further information can be found in Annex E.
Part 3 of the Plan outlines the link between these reforms and the wider work of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and existing government policies. The Plan considers the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Net Zero and climate change adaptation commitment, and the Food policies, regarding this latter the Plan aims at improving farmers position in the food supply chain. Part 4 provides further information and how farmers, land managers and other interest subjects can get involved in the agriculture transition.
The Plan has the objective to make agriculture more productive and sustainable; through specific schemes (e.g. grant options which will help farmers invest in productivity measures) it promotes increased agricultural production in an environmentally sustainable way.
The Plan deals with rural poverty by providing support to new entrants seeking to develop new land-based businesses, by creating lasting opportunities to access land, infrastructure and support.
The Plan enables more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems in different ways; by proposing initiatives to manage market failures that have led farmers having a weaker position in the food supply chain, by setting training opportunities and involving them actively in the design of the new Environmental Land Management schemes.
The Plan also makes a close connection between climate change and agriculture. Farming and the countryside can contribute to environmental goals including climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Plan through these new agricultural subsidies aims to protect and enhance biodiversity and build resilience against climate change across agriculture, land use and food systems.