Taylor Vinters Response To The Future Of Farming Consultation

The Government's consultation paper on the future of farming closed on 9 May.

I gathered the feedback of a large number of clients ranging from small private farmers to large landholding institutions and producer organisations across England and consolidated their views into the Taylor Vinters response to the consultation.

We strongly believe that the Government's proposals for future agricultural policy in England are flawed and could herald an uncertain future for farmers.

We outlined our concerns in an article published on our website and asked our clients in the food and agriculture sectors to share their views on the consultation paper.

Below is a summary of their responses:

CAP reduction

If the total subsidy is reduced it must remain at a level which allows competition with the EU and other economic areas that receive a subsidy. There must be certainty around the timescales for the reduction and any changes should be phased to allow time for farmers to budget accordingly. The reduction should be implemented across the industry as a whole - for example a reduction of 10% to everyone, rather than targeting a specific group via a cap. A cap on the amount of subsidy will lead to a proliferation of alternative business structures to work around the cap. The current subsidy payment provides the profit margin of many farmers. If it is taken away, it is likely that many small or medium-sized farmers will go out of business. This will lead to the sale of many farms to large-scale conglomerates who are arguably worse for the environment and could have a devastating effect on the rural economies. Every job in agriculture sustains a further seven jobs in the wider economy. The current subsidy system is effectively a tax on all to support lower food prices. If the subsidy is removed, profit will have to be generated elsewhere to sustain farming, which is most likely to come from higher food prices. Efficiency

Although it is accepted that levels of efficiency vary among farmers, there is not enough slack in the system for all farmers survive if the subsidy payments are removed completely or restricted only to environmental activities. The natural environment exists in many different and challenging forms which can constrain farmers from achieving greater efficiencies. Farmers have little control over the price of their products as these are set by traders in global commodities, by supermarkets, and buyers at auction markets. Environment

Although...