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<p>In the ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in
a Green Brexit’ consultation, which ran from February to May 2018, we asked ‘what
are the main barriers to new capital investment that can boost profitability and improve
animal and plant health on-farm?’ Over 3,000 responses were submitted to this question,
and the most frequently selected option (77% of respondents) selected ‘uncertainty
about the future and where to target new investment’.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-from-eu-programmes-guaranteed-until-the-end-of-2020"
target="_blank">has guaranteed</a> that any Rural Development Programme projects where
funding has been agreed before the end of 2020 will be funded for their full lifetime.
This applies in both a negotiated and a no-deal scenario. It will ensure continued
funding for these projects until they finish and means that Defra and the devolved
administrations can continue to sign new projects after the UK leaves the EU during
2019 and 2020. The Government has also committed to provide the same total level of
funding for farm support in cash terms until the end of this parliament, expected
in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>The Countryside Stewardship scheme is open for applications
for both multi-annual agreements starting on 1 January 2020 and capital works, such
as for water quality and hedgerows and boundaries. For agri-environment schemes we
are developing proposals for the scheme offer from 2021.</p><p> </p><p>As we develop
the new Environmental Land Management system and evolve the Countryside Stewardship
offer, we will work to ensure we can offer a smooth transition from Countryside Stewardship
to the Environmental Land Management system when it becomes fully operational from
2024.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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