On Wednesday 10th June, the Agriculture Bill passed its Second Reading in the House of Lords, moving it another step towards reaching Royal Assent and ensuring farmers are properly rewarded for the ‘public goods’ they produce.
Trade and import standards
Listening to peers’ concerns about food standards, Lord Gardiner stated that, “all EU food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards will be retained and form part of our domestic law. I emphasise that that includes all existing import requirements. Any changes to existing legislative standards would require new legislation to be brought before Parliament.”
Frequency of reporting on food security
Lord Gardiner noted that the five-year period set out in the Bill is a minimum, that work will be ongoing between reports, and the Government does not intend to wait five years before publishing the first report. The first report will take into account lessons learnt from the current coronavirus situation.
Maintaining funding opportunities for farmers
As direct payments are phased out before the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is fully rolled out, we will offer a simplified Countryside Stewardship scheme for 2021-24 alongside productivity grants. Countryside Stewardship will provide an additional long-term income stream whether it is for, for example, new hedges, wildlife offers, managing ponds or, particularly, livestock yards and manure storage to reduce pollution and improve water quality.
“Productivity grants will be available to invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure, such as efficient irrigation systems and precision slurry application equipment. The Government will ensure a smooth transition into the ELM scheme and no one with an Environmental Stewardship or Countryside Stewardship agreement will be unfairly disadvantaged when we transition to the new arrangements.”
