When the UK voted to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, the winds of change in the British countryside shifted from strong to gale force. The majority of UK farmers voted to leave, citing the EU's monolithic Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as the leading factor in their decisionmaking. While no firm details were given of what would replace it during the campaign period, Vote Leave's narrative was British agriculture would be greener, more prosperous and freer to operate out of the aegis of an overly bureaucratic Brussels.
Farming and shooting are inextricably linked; the countryside over which we enjoy our sport is overwhelmingly farmland.
The new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) purport to bring about not only an agricultural revolution but a complete restructuring of how the countryside is managed and funded. The question is, will this rural regime change bring the promised sunlit uplands for shooting and conservation, or will ELMs prove to be disastrous for our sport? We are now on the fifth Prime Minister since the referendum result was announced. Only now is there any clear idea as to what ELMs will actually provide in both financial and practical support. The CAP's single farm payment subsidy, which pays landowners depending on how much land they own, will be fully phased out by 2027. The scheme that replaces it no longer pays simply for owning land. ELMs instead support farmers for the environmental goods and services they provide, as well as providing grants to support farm productivity, innovation, research and development.
The negatives are mainly financial.
Thanks to a combination of the loss of the single farm payment, staffing shortages and heightened costs of inputs, something of a crisis has emerged in the agricultural sector.
Esta historia es de la edición June 21, 2023 de Shooting Times & Country.
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Esta historia es de la edición June 21, 2023 de Shooting Times & Country.
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United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside