The countries of the UK are producing devolved plans for financial support to agriculture following the UK's departure from the European Union. These plans are loosely based on the EU regulations, but are showing increasing divergence with time.
Countries of the EU (including Ireland) provide financial support to farmers in two ways:
Common Agricultural Policy Pillar 1 - targeted direct support to farmers. This is a basic payment per hectare, harmonised according to national or regional economic or administrative criteria (the Basic Payment Scheme, BPS). There is a 'greening' component that varies between member states, as support to offset the cost of providing public goods not remunerated by the market.
Common Agricultural Policy Pillar 2 - the Rural Development Policy (RDP). Payments to farmers for specific activities; environmental measures are an important component here.
It is a principle of EU funding that one activity cannot receive more than one form of funding, so an activity funded under Pillar 1 cannot be funded under Pillar 2 (and vice versa). In order to receive Pillar 1 funding and most Pillar 2 funding, farmers have to obey a basic set of rules (cross-compliance) that can be broken down into Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs).
The UK government has guaranteed that any projects where funding has been agreed by 2020 under the EU regulations will be funded for their full lifetime.
Funding information for the member countries of the UK and for Ireland can be seen by clicking on the country link.
Note: whilst every effort is made to report the regulations regarding government funding for agroforestry as accurately as possible, the Farm Woodland Forum is not liable for any errors in the information given or changes to it. Landowners considering planting agroforestry and applying for grant support should consult a professional land agent.