Anton Coaker Blog
Member
Changing Subs
Rightly or wrongly, old EU era farm subsidies being steadily wound down. Cash we’ve relied on to prop up farm businesses is being cut every year, until it disappears in 3 years. The grand plan is that DEFRA is introducing new systems of support, based on us hugging bunnies and dolphins, or whatever the plan is. In fact, Minister George has promised that the overall budget will stay the same, so none of us will be worse off.
However, this is somewhat disingenuous. You see, although the cuts to the old payments have started, his new schemes aren’t really up and running yet, despite DEFRA having had several years to get them ready. I don’t know where the money’s going, because few of us can make sense of the mishmash that’s currently under development. There are various different overlapping ideas, still being changed on the fly. They require time and effort to both get signed into, and then adhere to. Compare that to the old EU ‘Basic payment’, which the world and his uncle said was so terrible. In premise it was very simple – or was until Whitehall intervened, throwing masses of impediments underfoot. One favourite was/is changing the official mapping details annually, so we never knew from one year to the next exactly how much land we were able to claim. That in turn highlighted the striking stupidity that a neatly clipped golf course or aerodrome might qualify for payment, but an overgrown bit of native scrub creeping out from an unmanaged hedge did not. We were – we still are- being financially forced to try and keep everything neat and trimmed….which is rather at variance with the new schemes, where they want everything left to go to wrack and ruin. It’s hard to marry the two isn’t it?
And here’s the thing. The old scheme was very clunky, but simple. You got paid a flat rate, depending on your farm size. And DEFRA’s interference notwithstanding, we knew exactly where we were. Depending on the vagaries of the supercomputer tallying it up and setting the Euro exchange rate, we knew more or less what to expect. Critically, we were left to get on and farm. And it’s an untold tale that, despite it being crystal clear that we could in fact simply ‘mow a big lawn’, put our metaphoric feet up and let the cash roll in, the vast majority of us carried on farming. I don’t suppose it was by design, but the scheme did exactly what subsidies had originally been set in place to do…keep farmers producing in a volatile and often unprofitable market.
But now, as a DEFRA heavily pregnant with new replacement schemes- each with 30-40 fathers- labours towards delivery, none of us have a clear idea of what we can expect.
I see the great and the good are asking me to embrace the planned new schemes, and not be cynical. Being a weapons grade cynic, this is a leap of faith for me. The continual complications that Whitehall cannot resist are to be married to schemes influenced by every lobby group in Christendom. Subsequently, there isn’t the least chance of these schemes being simple, sensible, fair, or practical. To bring you back to the here and now, and how it’s affecting me and mine, this is what’s happening right now. My EU payments are being cut, and soon the only support I’ll get is the most recent pre-Brexit environmental scheme I’m signed into – This is an extra payment, originally based on the premise that those farming very difficult, but highly valued landscapes, should receive extra payments. Overall, my subsidy income is already dropping by thousands.
At the same time, as you may have heard, my input costs have rocketed. Even an extensive grass based system has some inputs, and while I’m a very conservative and careful example of the type, I’m wincing at the bills. Oh, I know George keeps telling us, ‘farm gate sales’ – meaning what we sell, rather than the price of actual gates- are higher than ever. But these are a politician’s weasel words My highest value outputs are suckled calves and store cattle, which my customers subsequently fatten -partly- using corn which has rocketed in value, along with the rest of their costs. I will be pleasantly surprised if they’re able to pay tuppence more than they did last year.
Because I’m careful, and slow to jump into the unknown, I’m not about to ‘go scat’. But, by golly, I’m certainly minimising my exposure by shrinking my farming operations. Many who’re more inclined to ‘push on’ are heading for a cliff edge. This should greatly concern George, but apparently doesn’t.
Rightly or wrongly, old EU era farm subsidies being steadily wound down. Cash we’ve relied on to prop up farm businesses is being cut every year, until it disappears in 3 years. The grand plan is that DEFRA is introducing new systems of support, based on us hugging bunnies and dolphins, or whatever the plan is. In fact, Minister George has promised that the overall budget will stay the same, so none of us will be worse off.
However, this is somewhat disingenuous. You see, although the cuts to the old payments have started, his new schemes aren’t really up and running yet, despite DEFRA having had several years to get them ready. I don’t know where the money’s going, because few of us can make sense of the mishmash that’s currently under development. There are various different overlapping ideas, still being changed on the fly. They require time and effort to both get signed into, and then adhere to. Compare that to the old EU ‘Basic payment’, which the world and his uncle said was so terrible. In premise it was very simple – or was until Whitehall intervened, throwing masses of impediments underfoot. One favourite was/is changing the official mapping details annually, so we never knew from one year to the next exactly how much land we were able to claim. That in turn highlighted the striking stupidity that a neatly clipped golf course or aerodrome might qualify for payment, but an overgrown bit of native scrub creeping out from an unmanaged hedge did not. We were – we still are- being financially forced to try and keep everything neat and trimmed….which is rather at variance with the new schemes, where they want everything left to go to wrack and ruin. It’s hard to marry the two isn’t it?
And here’s the thing. The old scheme was very clunky, but simple. You got paid a flat rate, depending on your farm size. And DEFRA’s interference notwithstanding, we knew exactly where we were. Depending on the vagaries of the supercomputer tallying it up and setting the Euro exchange rate, we knew more or less what to expect. Critically, we were left to get on and farm. And it’s an untold tale that, despite it being crystal clear that we could in fact simply ‘mow a big lawn’, put our metaphoric feet up and let the cash roll in, the vast majority of us carried on farming. I don’t suppose it was by design, but the scheme did exactly what subsidies had originally been set in place to do…keep farmers producing in a volatile and often unprofitable market.
But now, as a DEFRA heavily pregnant with new replacement schemes- each with 30-40 fathers- labours towards delivery, none of us have a clear idea of what we can expect.
I see the great and the good are asking me to embrace the planned new schemes, and not be cynical. Being a weapons grade cynic, this is a leap of faith for me. The continual complications that Whitehall cannot resist are to be married to schemes influenced by every lobby group in Christendom. Subsequently, there isn’t the least chance of these schemes being simple, sensible, fair, or practical. To bring you back to the here and now, and how it’s affecting me and mine, this is what’s happening right now. My EU payments are being cut, and soon the only support I’ll get is the most recent pre-Brexit environmental scheme I’m signed into – This is an extra payment, originally based on the premise that those farming very difficult, but highly valued landscapes, should receive extra payments. Overall, my subsidy income is already dropping by thousands.
At the same time, as you may have heard, my input costs have rocketed. Even an extensive grass based system has some inputs, and while I’m a very conservative and careful example of the type, I’m wincing at the bills. Oh, I know George keeps telling us, ‘farm gate sales’ – meaning what we sell, rather than the price of actual gates- are higher than ever. But these are a politician’s weasel words My highest value outputs are suckled calves and store cattle, which my customers subsequently fatten -partly- using corn which has rocketed in value, along with the rest of their costs. I will be pleasantly surprised if they’re able to pay tuppence more than they did last year.
Because I’m careful, and slow to jump into the unknown, I’m not about to ‘go scat’. But, by golly, I’m certainly minimising my exposure by shrinking my farming operations. Many who’re more inclined to ‘push on’ are heading for a cliff edge. This should greatly concern George, but apparently doesn’t.