As the UK prepares for its departure from the European Union, the government has started developing new domestic agricultural policies, including a potential farm insurance scheme borrowed from Canada.
Farming Minister George Eustice recently indicated his plan to move away from the “clunky” area-based direct payment scheme with all the “environmental conditions dumped on top of it,”
FG Insight reported.
According to the report, Eustice wants instead to explore risk management tools like Canada’s farm insurance policy and take a “more holistic approach to protecting the environment.”
“It would be better to separate out our objectives for a farm policy. We want to protect food security and enhance farm profitability,”
FG Insight quoted Eustice as saying.
“What is the best way to do that? Is it through crop insurance and grant aid to get the most modern technology on farms?” he added.
Eustice has agreed that farmers should put money in for them to obtain funding in return.
The pro-Brexit minister said the Canadian-style insurance scheme would reward farmers who invested in their businesses to “produce more for the country,”
FG Insight reported.
“You do not need an active farmer test. It naturally rewards farmers who are putting money on the line to produce food.”
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