Farmers and environment will ‘thrive without EU cash’

FARMERS who were reliant on EU subsidies cared less for the environment, a study has suggested.

Instead, the farms that reduced pesticides and cared for more diverse crops and livestock also enjoyed a more stable income, a report from Rothamsted Research and Reading and Newcastle Universities has found.

Scientists said this was an encouraging sign that the Government’s new Environmental Land Management Scheme, which will replace EU subsidies, will help farmers thrive.

Researchers said the growers did better when they looked after their land because their farms were more resilient to extreme weather events and disease.

The researchers examined data from the Government’s Farm Business Survey for 2,333 farms in England and Wales, between 2007 and 2015, for a range of different farm types.

The team examined the effect of farming practices and subsidies on the stability of farm income, and their relative importance over the nine years.

They found that an increase in direct EU subsidies paid to farmers based on the area farmed was associated with a relatively large decrease in the stability of farm income, ranging from 6 to 35 per cent across most farm types. Reducing

the intensity of inputs was an important factor increasing the stability of income for all farm types; on average reducing the intensity of inputs reduces variability of income by 20 per cent.

Dr Jake Bishop, lecturer in crop science and production at Reading University’s School of Agriculture, Policy & Development, said: “Our latest research is interesting as it shows that farms that were adopting environmental management actually benefited financially from their stewardship.”

He added: “This is encouraging news for farmers as the UK moves to the Environmental Land Management Scheme. Diversifying outputs and more efficient use of agrochemicals is also associated with environmental and ecological benefits, including for soils and pollinators; these benefits may have translated into more stable farm incomes over the nine years we examined.”

Caroline Harkness, lead author and PHD student, said: “Instability in farm income can be a real challenge. It was encouraging, to find that farms adopting environmentally friendly practices also had more stable incomes.

“Farmers may be benefiting financially from their environmental management, while in contrast an increase in direct payments per hectare was associated with less stable farm income.”