AUTHORS: David Baldock and Hermann Kam

A new chapter in the history of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland agricultural policy began with the country’s departure from the EU and the Common Agricultural Policy. With agricultural policy being a devolved competence within a centrally determined budget, each of the four nations within the UK chose to develop its own approach and manage the transition on its own timelines. Significant differences have emerged already since 2018, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland initially retaining most of the CAP model but now embarking on a variety of changes with a stronger focus on the provision of environmental services and phasing out of the current model of direct payments. England is committed to a new approach with the Agriculture Act of 2020 making a fundamental change to the objectives of expenditure supporting farmers and committing to the end of direct payments.

This report arises from a short study undertaken in the first half of 2024, part way through the agricultural transition and the rolling out of the new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs). It is not a comprehensive review or assessment but an initial perspective on a significant set of changes to agricultural policies in England.

Please note: Since this report was completed in August 2024, there have been developments in policy applying to agriculture in England and other parts of the UK. Some of the most significant of these were those announced at the time of the national budget at the end of October 2024. These have not involved fundamental changes in approach. The overall direction of travel set out in the English Agricultural Transition Plan has been maintained, and somewhat accelerated in the sense that the reduction in direct payments in 2025 will be significantly greater than anticipated. The overall financial ceiling for financial support to farmers in England for the year ahead was maintained at the previous level of £2.4 billion, amounting to a freeze in real terms. By early December 2024 there had yet to be any information about how the budget may evolve beyond 2025.

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