British farming is in the midst of major change, from shifts to new support schemes, to playing an key role in combatting climate change and food security issues.
We are all are aware that the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in England is being phased out between now and 2027, and that this will have a massive impact on farmers, but how will the lump-sum exit scheme work, together with the de-linking of the remaining BPS payments from 2024? And what about capital losses that will arise when entitlements cease to have any value?
There have been several announcements on changes to National Insurance (NIC’s) rules and rates over the last year or so. It is easy to lose track of these, here we review the changes and how they impact on individuals and businesses.
It feels very much like a game of two halves within agriculture and our client base currently, with many sectors having had a reasonable last 12 months due to decent livestock prices and commodity prices. However, we should not underestimate the severe difficulties the pig industry especially is having.
Whilst the Chancellor’s measures are all welcome, they are just a drop in the ocean compared to the massive increase in input costs faced by farmers in recent months.