Farming Roadmap should trigger serious business review, advisers say

Farmers are being warned to make tough business decisions as England’s Farming Roadmap points to higher standards, lower inputs and less reliance on government payments.

Jeremy Moody, secretary and adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, said the roadmap gives farmers a clearer sense of direction now that the Common Agricultural Policy has gone.

“There’s naturally a lot in the Farming Roadmap that we’ve heard before, but it is more clearly setting a direction now that the CAP has gone,” Mr Moody said.

He said the document supports productive farming and treats agriculture more firmly as a business, while also pointing towards more regulation and expected good practice.

Mr Moody warned that the regulatory baseline for good farming practice is likely to rise, with some measures moving from paid options to legal requirements.

He said farmers should expect standards to increase, with “no more money to be paid”.

He said farmers should treat the current Environmental Land Management schemes as transitional.

Measures such as buffer strips, which have previously been funded, could become compulsory in future legislation.

Mr Moody said wider changes in farming practice were likely to be driven increasingly by the marketplace, with farmers making decisions independently or in partnership with supply chains.

Future public funding, he added, is likely to focus more tightly on public goods, such as habitat creation.

He also warned farmers to check private environmental agreements carefully, particularly where buyers may seek to capture the value created by environmental work on farm.

“We are at an early stage with a lot of practical learning still to be done,” he said.

The message for farm businesses, he suggested, is that policy support is changing and decisions on land use, investment and future direction need to be made sooner rather than later.

However, Mr Moody said reduced reliance on government payments could also give farmers more freedom to shape their own approach.

“The advantage in not being beholden to Government payments is that, like any other business, you will now be more free to choose your approach, including whether, what, how, where and when you farm,” he said.

Taken together with inheritance tax changes, Mr Moody said the roadmap should prompt farming families to review succession, business structure and land-use decisions.

“Where do the family and business want to be, and how might they get there?” he said.

He said farmers should now decide whether to grow, adapt, let land out or withdraw, rather than wait for policy to settle.

“It’s time to make the decisions and implement them.”