Research from the University of Nottingham has helped secure a longer period of financial support for farm businesses as part of the new Agriculture Bill that received Royal Assent yesterday.
A consortium of universities and colleges led by Professor Paul Wilson from the University of Nottingham has carried out research that has provided data and insights to DEFRA to use as evidence to inform the policies in the new agriculture bill.
The University of Nottingham has been the lead research institution for the annual Farm Business Survey (FBS) for many years but the findings of the survey, which looks at the performance of over 1,750 English farms each year, have never been more important.
Results from the Farm Business Survey, which is commissioned by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), formed more than 50% of the evidence used to produce the new bill.
The Agriculture Bill will provide the legal framework for the establishment of a new system of agricultural assistance for farmers and land managers. The Bill is essentially "enabling" legislation, providing fairly broad powers to current and future governments to provide financial assistance and make other policy interventions.
One of the biggest changes in the new bill is removing the subsidy Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) that's been in place for Farmers. Data from the Farm Business Survey showed the potential detrimental impact losing this income in only 5 years would have on some farmers. Using this evidence DEFRA extended the 'BPS transition period' to 7 years and also changed the way the payments would be reduced to take into account the size and turnover of the business.
Our research showed that the amount of reliance on the BPS system varied, for example smaller upland farmers and sheep and beef farmers rely heavily on this payment so the impact for them on losing it suddenly would be huge. The solution DEFRA took from our evidence was to extend the transition period from 5 to 7 years and to modify the reduction amounts depending on the size of the farm business. In doing this we think rural businesses will be better placed to manage and protect their finances over a longer period as the BPS payment is withdrawn.
Another key part of the bill that University of Nottingham research fed into was the importance of sharing data and performance. Working with Cambridge University an online benchmarking tool was created that allows farm businesses to compare performance allowing them to identify areas for improvement.
It is great to see a new piece of legislation like the Agriculture Bill being underpinned by the research we do, knowing that we have played an absolutely crucial role in helping to develop the future direction of UK agriculture and environmental policy.
