A summary of the new support package for farming and the transition process

A new support package for farming to replace the EU Common Agricultural Policy would phase out direct income support based on the area of land farmed (the Basic Payment Scheme – BPS) and strengthen funding focussed on environmental protection and enhancement.

At the end of November 2020, Defra published more information about the new policy and the transition process. Transition will take seven years and will involve: completely phasing out BPS payments; closing existing agri-environment schemes and introducing Environmental Land Management; and a number of other measures.

This document is a short summary of the main points which are most likely to be of interest to CPRE members.