Farmers find life without subsidies difficult

Farmers, particularly those in England, are find it difficult to adjust to life with reducing subsidies.  

A Farmers Weekly of 500 farmers survey showed farmers across the UK continue to rely heavily on support scheme money, with almost 90% receiving some funding.

On average, BPS revenue accounted for 29.3% of farm incomes in the 12 months up to spring 2023, only slightly down on the 31.7% recorded for the same period a year earlier.   For more than two in five (41%), BPS money made up one-quarter of incomes.  But for 16%, BPS funding still accounted for three-quarters or more of total revenue, a slight increase on the figure for spring 2022 when it stood at 14%.  

Dwindling support levels continue to cause widespread concern.  A growing number of farmers (49% – up from 45% last year) are now “very concerned” about how they will replace lost revenue from support.

Overall, eight out of 10 farmers registered some level of concern.  Concerns ran so deeply that 87.5% said they were uncertain whether their farms would even survive without BPS support.  More than half (55%) forecast it would be difficult to survive and one-quarter went further, saying survival would only be secured with great difficulty.

More than one-third (37%) are looking to an off-farm revenue to bolster incomes.  Almost two-thirds already have a source of off-farm income, with 22% in outside employment while 19% own another business and 15% hold investments unrelated to agriculture.

Regrets? I have a few.

The voting behaviour of UK farmers in the Brexit referendum mirrored that of the population as a whole, but quite a few are now regretting their choice according to a Farmers' Weekly survey of 950 farmers and those in ancillary industries. 

Three-quarters of respondents said that Brexit had been negative for the UK economy and 69 per cent said that it had been very or fairly negative for their own businesses.   If the vote could be held again, there would be an eight per cent swing from leave to remain.   65 per cent said that it made it less likely they would vote Conservative.

Both arable and livestock farmers seemed equally disappointed   Even more negative were those growing vegetables (81 per cent) or keeping pigs  (79 per cent).

A clear majority said that despite pre-Brexit promises of 'a bonfire of red tape' once Britain left the EU, the reverse had been true.   My talks to farmers around the north of England convinced me that some had a very surprising view of the regulations that could be discarded.

The phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme in England attracted a lot of criticism, it being claimed that farming could not survive without support.    Arguably this shows an industry that had become too reliant on subsidies not tied to outcomes.

Two-thirds of those surveyed thought that the UK was better off when the EU devised policy, ironically a view strongest among those growing non-supported crops such as potatoes, sugar beet and fruit.