Farmers praise Boris for breaking UK out of catastrophic EU policies 'It hasn't worked!'
FARMERS have heaped praise on the Government’s decision to scrap the disastrous Common Agricultural Policy that has ravaged British farmlands during Britain’s membership of the EU.
Brexit: EU farming policy is 'unsustainable' says expert
Britain has vowed to scrap the EU’s damaging Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that has left UK land overegulated, more prone to flooding and caused environmental havoc. Furious farmers have lashed out at the EU’s wide-ranging farming policies, which have branded disastrous. One farmer said that Brexit allows the UK “to escape” the EU’s CAP, which was driving “unsustainable farming”.
CAP is the EU system of subsidies paid to EU farmers based on the amount of land they farm.
The future system will see farmers paid for the public goods provided, including clean water, clean air, healthy soils and habitats for wildlife.
Professor Alastair Driver, the Director of Rewilding UK, remarked that the “EU was driving farmers to act unsustainably”.
He complained that EU regulations had restricted British farmers and caused long-term damage to the land.
JUST IN: Verhofstadt in threat to torpedo Brexit talks with plot that will even infuriate EU leader
He told Channel 4 News: “Brexit allows us to escape from the CAP which was driving farmers to farm land in an unsustainable way.
“The bigger you were was, the more money you got. It is not their fault, it was what the policies drove.
“Soil has degraded, we have more water rushing off causing flooding concerns. The new arrangement means farmers are rewarded for public goods.”
Landowner Roger Tempest also heaped praise on the Government’s post-Brexit approach, claiming it paid farmers for more than just food.
Brexit: EU could get 'narrow share' in fishing deal says expert
He listed “natural flood protection, public land access and increased biodiversity” as ways farmers could soon earn a living.
Following Brexit, the Government has vowed to have a stronger emphasis on the soil, at risk from overuse, erosion and nutrient loss.
Farmers will receive help maintaining healthy soils, as well as with improvements to the tracing of livestock movements between farms.
DON'T MISS:
Polish MEPs spark Brussels panic after standing ovation for 'POLEXIT' demands [VIDEO]
BBC's Kuenssberg unveils huge flaw in EU warning on Brexit deal - 'It's THEIR deadline!' [VIDEO]
BBC host destroys Verhofstadt's Brexit boast - 'You'll have to bend over backwards for UK' [VIDEO]
The commitment will be part of the biggest shakeup of British agriculture in 40 years.
Defra farm minister George Eustice recently wrote that the EU's CAP had become a "bureaucratic shambles".
He added: "Rather than arbitrary area-based payments, where land ownership and tenure is subsidised, we will instead direct future funding to support activities and interventions that deliver for our environment and enhance animal welfare."
The Government hopes the Agricultural Bill will be passed by the spring, allowing the country outside of the EU to develop its own agricultural policy for the first time in decades.