Content №4 от 2007
Agricultural policy in Great Britain
The Fischler reforms to the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy are more dramatic and far reaching than anything that has come before. The Fischler reforms as they are applied to England are considered from the perspective of livestock farming in the North East of England. The dependency of livestock farming on the previous subsidy system is shown. The new Single Farm Payment Subsidy (SFP) has been “decoupled” from production: so farmers will receive it providing they satisfy cross-compliance conditions even if they totally cease agricultural production. Despite this, many farmers will, at least initially, need to use their SFP to support their farm businesses – that is support will, in effect, remain coupled. For how long they will need to do this is an open question, as it principally depends on changes to input and output prices - which are difficult to predict - and their long-term commitment to farming.
