The UK government will give more to farmers than they do now, Defra minister George Eustice has said as he outlines his vision for UK agriculture outside the European Union.
Eustice was speaking at the launch of Farmers for Britain and marking the publication of a new Vote Leave leaflet.
Eustice drew attention to non-EU nations like Switzerland and Norway and how their governments gave more to farmers than the UK does.
"Where power has been ceded to the EU, we see inertia, inconsistency and indecision," the Farm minister said.
"The achievements we cherish most of all are those where we have secured opt-outs from EU initiatives."
Eustice said the UK gives money to the EU, which they convert into foreign currency creating unnecessary exchange rate risks.
"The system has been through various changes over the years but remains a centralised and bureaucratic policy. In its current form, it attempts to codify and regulate almost every conceivable feature of our landscape and almost every conceivable thing a farmer might want to do with their land."
He said some 80% of legislation affecting DEFRA comes directly from the EU.
"It is all pervasive: how many farm inspections there must be in a given year; what proportion of those inspections must be random; how much a farmer must be fined if they make a mistake; how much they should be fined if they make the same mistake twice; the precise dimensions of EU billboards and plaques that farmers are forced to put up by law; the maximum width of a gateway; how we define a hedge; whether a cabbage and a cauliflower are different crops or should be deemed the same crop. The list goes on forever and it's stifling."
'In Britain's economic interest'
But Defra Secretary Liz Truss is joining the Prime Minister in his calls for Britain to remain a member of the EU.
Truss said it was in Britain's economic interest and 'means we can focus on vital economic and social reform at home.'
NFU Scotland said the overall benefits of staying in the EU outweigh any advantages rural businesses would gain from leaving.
Andrew McCornick, NFU Scotland Vice President commented: “Put simply, the interests of agriculture in Europe are clear – farmers would prefer to farm without the financial support they receive from the EU, but the reality is that most farms don’t make enough from the market for this to be possible.
"A further issue is access to the European single market, which allows tariff-free trade amongst all member states. The EU’s negotiating position has also allowed trade agreements to be opened with some 50 international partners in recent years. This is of great importance to Scotland’s food and drink industry, which continues to exceed targets and had an export value of £5.1 billion in 2014.
"For farmers to vote to leave the European Union, they need to know what the trading arrangements with the rest of Europe would be – would Scotland be able to continue to trade tariff-free with Europe or would our lamb, beef and other key farm exports face a tariff barrier? Would access to important overseas markets remain or would the UK have to start over again in negotiations?
"Access to markets is vital and clarity is required on what this would look like should the vote be to leave the European Union."
UK is fined £100m a year
Eustice said compliance with the 'plethora' of farming regulations coming from the EU is enforced through a system of penalties.
He said the UK is typically fined in the region of £100 million a year for 'mainly trivial' breaches of the rules.
"No one knows where they stand because there is such a morass of rules and it all depends on what a particular auditor on a given day might retrospectively decide.
"However hard we try to abide by the rules, it is inevitable that the British taxpayer will be routinely stung by fines. This makes people risk averse and afraid to consider doing things differently. And it means that Ministers spend far too much of their time wrestling with lawyers before they can get anything done at all."
Plan B
Eustice used his platform to outline his 'plan B' for agriculture should the UK vote to leave.
"There is one important change that a vote to leave would deliver," he said.
"For the first time in over forty years, Ministers would have the power to change things and farmers will be given a say in shaping their future. A UK agricultural policy will not be dumped on everyone from on high like the CAP."
"So today I have written to all of the farming unions and environmental NGOs in the UK to invite their views on what a future farming policy outside of the EU should look like. I want them to be ready for change and to be part of it."
Last year the UK exported £7.5 billion worth of food to the EU but imported £18 billion worth.
"We have an annual trade deficit with the EU in food alone of £10 billion so they need a free trade deal."
Eustice said firstly the UK must invest more in science and technology if farmers were to make the next step forward. New genetic breeding techniques like gene editing 'could reduce our reliance on pesticides'.
Secondly, he said, "Farmers want to earn their profit from the market but they need a helping hand when things go wrong. I want us to explore the potential for government backed insurance schemes like they have in Canada and futures markets like they have in the US to help mitigate risk.
"Thirdly, we must replace the existing system of "cross compliance" rules and the chaos caused by an annual application process with something simpler and more rounded. I am interested in exploring a new farm area payment which rewards any farmer who signs up to privately operated, UKAS accredited schemes that promote basic measures to deliver environmentally sensitive farming.
"Finally, to promote improved wildlife habitats and higher animal welfare standards, we would put in place a scheme similar to the environmental stewardship scheme we have now but we would make it simpler and broaden the remit of schemes to include measures that improve animal welfare."
