Farmers have reportedly called for the government to grant them a universal basic income, saying the post-Brexit agriculture subsidy scheme has left many poorer.
According to reports, delays to the sustainable farming schemes put in place after the UK left the European Union, to replace the common agricultural policy (CAP), have meant that in England many farmers have been left out of pocket. The new regime initially suffered from low subscription rates, and the government has underspent hundreds of millions from the £2.4bn farming budget each year due to lack of sign-up.
Scotland and Wales have different farming schemes, and Northern Ireland has not yet set up its new scheme due to Stormont not having sat for two years. In Wales, there have been protests over plans to ask farmers to set aside 20% of their farms for nature and tree planting.
Independent analysis and projects by the government have shown that the new nature payments schemes will not plug the gap left by the lack of EU subsidies for most farmers. The nature schemes were never meant to replace the CAP payments exactly, and instead are aimed at paying farmers to provide public goods.
Now, at least 100 farmers have signed up to a new campaign group, BI4Farmers, to ask for a universal basic income (UBI) for all farmers in Britain.
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The campaigners said that farmers across the UK were “basically kept afloat” by EU subsidies and now risk going out of business. Analysis by the organic farming group Riverford has found that half of farmers surveyed said they may go out of business due to post-Brexit trade deals, uncertainty over farming payment schemes and rising costs.
Jo Poulton, who is corodinator for the BI4Farmers, said: “British farmers are overworked and underpaid but the Brexit process presents an ideal opportunity to change this,”. “A basic income for farmers would guarantee an adequate income, improving access to time off and reasonable working hours and making entering a career in farming affordable for new entrants.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
