Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom has promised a shake-up of the country’s farm policy once Britain is out of the European Union.

In her speech at the NFU Conference in Birmingham, the environment secretary said farming will face some of the biggest challenges as the UK withdraws from the EU. Leadsom said she will be meeting with ministers from the UK’s devolved nations this week, and will continue negotiations on post-Brexit policy at a series of meetings being held throughout March and April.

In a report on Brexit’s implications for environment law published last week, an influential House of Lords Committee warned that Defra will shoulder a massive burden as a result of Brexit: Defra will lead on repatriating legislation - and potentially introducing new mechanisms to ensure laws are obeyed in the absence of the European Court of Justice - all whilst devising a new farm payments regime, and having suffered deep and repeated budget cuts since 2010.

On Tuesday, Andrea Leadsom said there will be some form of support for farmers after the completion of the Brexit negotiations. Though she wouldn’t give any specifics, she said, “There is no doubt that there will be support for our vital food and farming industry after we leave the EU.”  

Ministers have pledged to maintain farm spending at current levels until 2020, though investigations by government committees and policy groups have suggested there will be significant changes from the European model, which directs around two-thirds of the EU budget to agriculture. Farming Minister George Eustice, who promised farmers in an independent Britain would receive at least as much funding as they do currently whilst campaigning for Brexit last year went back on this claim less than a month after June’s Brexit vote.

Leadsom did say the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is not a suitable model, arguing that it is over-complex, involves too much ‘red tape’ and offers-or value for money. She lambasted the CAP as a “blunt instrument” and said her department will aim to create a more tailored policy “that recognises the needs of hill farmers alongside those of arable farmers,” with a focus on fostering innovation, skills and new technologies, which she claimed the CAP doesn’t provide.

The Defra Secretary said, “The current CAP has improved over recent years, but in trying to do more for the environment, farmers have found themselves confronted with unnecessary bureaucracy.

“So as we leave the EU, we have an opportunity to take a fresh look at these schemes and think about what mechanisms are needed to promote the twin goals of productive farming and environmental improvement.”

No movement on overseas labour

A number of large farm groups have highlighted the threats that PM Theresa May’s planned ‘hard Brexit’ will present to businesses relying on labour from overseas, notably horticulture and dairying. Leadsom mentioned labour issues, but offered no succour to concerned farmers; she didn’t make any guarantees, but promised to listen to employers’ needs.

The Defra secretary’s address came as Green Party MEPs published two reports outlining a new approach to farm policy, focusing on restoring soil health and promoting biodiversity, bringing an end to area-based direct payments in favour of paying farmers for delivering public and environmental goods. The Defra chief suggested a new farm policy might have at least some regard for these needs, noting “farmers must feel incentivised and rewarded for caring for the environment” and promising that a new policy would incentivise as many farmers as possible to improve their local environments. She also reiterated the government’s commitment to its manifesto pledge that it will ensure animal welfare standards are maintained in any trade deal - apparently in response to concerns over the potential impacts trade deals could have on food standards.

NFU Deputy President Minette Batters, who chaired an event looking at the unansweredd questions around Brexit, trade and agriculture on Tuesday, said, “We believe any changes to trading relationships and the agricultural policy affecting farmers should be subject to a period of transition to allow farming businesses to adapt to any new environment. We are extremely concerned that the [government’s Brexit] White Paper commits us to leaving the EU without having carried out any impact assessment as to what the consequences of trading under WTO default rules will have on rural Britain. If we don’t have a deal and we default to WTO rules, tariffs could be in place that price us out of the marketplace. There is a clear need for government to do this work. It’s not something we can analyse in two years’ time.”

Batters continued, “One of the big unanswered questions is how we see our future trading relationship with Europe and subsequent trade agreements with the rest of the world.  We have to do a deal with Europe and it is a deal that will shape our landscape for generations to come. The problem is that getting free trade deals in agriculture is notoriously difficult. We pride ourselves on our quality food production and high animal welfare standards and we want these qualities to be recognised in any future trade agreements.”

As the environment secretary was speaking in Birmingham on Tuesday, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that the UK faces a hefty bill and “years of negotiations” over Brexit. Juncker was speaking to the Belgian Parliament ahead of British PM Theresa May’s plans to trigger Article 50, beginning the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, next month.