The blind optimism shown by government ministers in their plans for the future of Englands farms could result in many small and tenant farmers being forced out of business, a parliamentary report has warned.
In the wake of Brexit, farmers in England are set to see direct payments worth 1.8bn in 2019/20 under the EUs Common Agricultural Policy slashed by more than half by 2024/25 and removed entirely in 2027 as the government shifts to a new regime intended to boost productivity and improve stewardship of the countryside.
But a House of Commons committee report said that George Eustices Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has not yet done enough to gain farmers trust initsability to successfully deliver the programme.
And it said ministers were over-optimistic about the likelihood of making English farms more productive.
The end result of encouraging farmers to free up land for environmental purposes such as woodland is likely to be that England ends up importing more of its food, often from countries with worse environmental standards than Britain, said the report from the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
This would not only force up prices in the shops, but also make Britain more reliant on food from abroad.
With the average farm making a net profit of just 22,800 a year without subsidies, the committee said it feared that many small and tenant farmers operating on wafer-thin margins could be forced out of business.
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Governments post-Brexit farming plan will increase UKs reliance on food imports - The Independent
