Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

It is generally acknowledged that the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been a disaster for biodiversity. CAP essentially awards subsidies to farmers solely on the basis of their land area. In England, 70% of the land surface is given up to farming and a few, very rich folk (including the Queen and James Dyson) cream off most of the £1.6bn of subsidies (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/30/environment-to-benefit-from-biggest-farming-shake-up-in-50-years). Post-Brexit, the UK government claims, they will alter the basis of subsidies, so that environmental issues, such as increasing biodiversity, play a much bigger role. Megafarms largely reduce the range of species by concentrating on monocultures, with their attendant herbicides and insecticides. One of the reasons why military training land is biodiverse, is that it excludes farming. There remain some areas of concern. The plan says little about how money will help maintain 'wild areas' on holdings like moorland and salt water bogs (that, formerly, tended to be converted into low grade farmland). It also a bit worrying to read, that the intention is to eventually aim for agricultural subsidies (of any kind) to be phased out. The initial redirecting of the £1.6bn is also going to be unhelpful, if we end up with improved land management in the UK, only to have land (and animal welfare?) degradation in 'foreign' locations. This would inevitably materialise, if the current obsession with 'trade deals at any price', resulted in UK farmers being undercut by cheap imports. We might end up with a 'green and pleasant land', whilst we feast on chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef.