Thank you for contacting me about support for farmers in the Agriculture Bill.
Food and farming is a bedrock of our economy and environment in the UK - generating £112 billion a year and helping shape some of our finest habitats and landscapes. The Government understands this and has guaranteed the current annual budget in every year of the new Parliament, giving significant certainty on funding for the coming years. Indeed, nearly £3 billion of funding will top up the remaining EU funding to match the total funding for direct payments that was available for 2019.
I see examples locally of what many farmers are currently doing nationally to benefit wildlife and counter the effects of climate change. Now we have left the European Union, this country has the chance to tailor its agriculture policy to encourage this further. As we move away from the EU’s bureaucratic Common Agricultural Policy, we will head toward a fairer system where our farmers are paid public money for the public goods they deliver.
Continued on attachment below...