ATP Roadshow 2024: Land managers hear latest on agricultural transition and planning ahead

The CLA Agricultural Transition Roadshow returned to the South West in December as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) continues to be phased out and new schemes that focus on public money for public goods are introduced.

The roadshow events took place in Gloucestershire, Somerset, Cornwall and Devon, being well attended by members and their guests who were keen to hear the latest policy updates from the CLA and its partners.

The first hour of the sessions saw Cameron Hughes, CLA Senior Land Use Policy Adviser, provide an update on latest policy developments under the new Labour government, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and other transition schemes.

The Farm Advisory Service by Ricardo then explained how they can offer free farm business advice to help navigate through this period of unprecedented change in the industry whilst Catchment Sensitive Farming provided an update on the work it is doing with farmers to improve water and air quality, and reduce flood risk on agricultural land.

The South West events also provided an update on the potential impact of the proposed inheritance tax changes to agricultural and business property relief (APR and BPR) that were announced in the Budget, with Albert Goodman providing advice on how members could plan ahead.

Speaking following the events, the CLA’s Cameron Hughes, said: “With so much noise around the proposed changes to agricultural and business inheritance tax reliefs and the real terms cut in the agricultural budget announced last month by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, it is important to keep abreast of all the developments and what they could mean for farming businesses.

“The agricultural transition in England continues to progress, with the new Sustainable Farming Incentive expanded offer being rolled out as cuts to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) continue. The accelerated reduction in the 2025 delinked BPS payments announced in the Budget will be far greater than many businesses will have expected or planned for in cash flow projections and will hit some rural businesses hard.”

Cameron added: “The CLA has concerns regarding Defra and the Rural Payments Agency’s ability to roll out the Environmental Land Management schemes sufficiently quickly to enable the recovered BPS funding to be spent. This is in the context where Defra has been battling an agricultural budget underspend issue for the past three financial years. The CLA continues to lobby the government on this and is also meeting regularly with ministers to get them to reassess their plans for inheritance tax. We continue to push government to properly consider the impact of proposed changes to APR and BPR and hope that we can work together to find a system that allows businesses to thrive whilst dealing with the issues government say it wants to resolve.

“At a time of great uncertainty, it is important for us to share as much information as possible about the ever-changing world the agricultural industry is operating in. Our sessions equipped members with the key policy updates and with information that will help their businesses navigate this challenging period in the agricultural transition.”