MANY of the county’s family farms could disappear and much of the Lake District landscape wrecked, it is claimed, after the Government released their ‘Path to Sustainable Farming’ earlier this week.

The biggest change to farming in 50 years sets out that the basic payment scheme (BPS) will be halved by 2024 and gone by 2028.

This move, it is claimed, will affect the viability of farms currently heavily dependent on farm payments. For many in Cumbria it is 80 percent of their income.

The warning comes from leading Cumbrian figures, who claim Defra’s Roadmap, released on Monday will put thousands of farms at risk and wreck much of Britain’s landscape.

The ‘Path to Sustainable Farming’ sets out major changes and the eventual scrapping of the basic payment scheme (BPS).

The Foundation for Common Land charity has written to the Prime Minister. Its executive director, Julia Aglionby, an Armathwaite farmer, says: “The government has not provided an impact analysis of how their Roadmap proposals will affect the viability of farms currently heavily dependent on BPS. Our modelling is not pretty; the family farm is at risk, including activities such as pastoral commoning.

“The farmers who look after our most precious and sensitive landscapes risk being first against the wall in this restructuring of British agriculture as Defra data shows that for Upland Farms BPS income is 104 percent of farm business income.

“How can farmers restructure to deliver for nature and the climate without any details? What does ‘public money for public goods’ actually mean? Defra’s Path to Sustainable Farming is rather like a road atlas that only shows the motorways. We need a much more granular scale plan.

“The Foundation for Common land agrees with the government’s direction of travel that basic payment is phased out and environmental land management replaces it, but where we differ is the how. We ask the Government to address our concerns as a matter of urgency.”

South Lakes MP, Tim Farron, says “We rightly wouldn’t accept a 50 per cent pay cut for our nurses or our teachers – so why on earth should we accept it for our farmers who feed us, maintain our wonderful landscape and help protect our environment?

“We are told that the plans will provide environmental goods, but if the Government bankrupts our farmers in the process then who will be left to look after the environment? We could see the landscape of the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and many other of Britain’s beauty spots destroyed as a result.”

National Farmers Union (NFU) Cumbrian council delegate and west Cumbrian farmer, Alistair Mackintosh said farm payments were vital for upland and lowlands farmers, which in some cases makes up 80 per cent of their income.

“How do you generate income. Planting trees is one thing, but what are you going to be left with. How do you manage to make a living from planning trees. It will be very difficult for farmers to plan ahead until we know what the package will be. These payments have been a lifeline for many farmers especially when prices or growing conditions have been volatile.”

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has said that farmers in England will be left feeling very worried following the announcement of DEFRA’s Agricultural Transition Plan.

TFA national chairman, Mark Coulman said, “There is broad acceptance that we need to change the way farmers are rewarded by reallocating money paid through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) into schemes targeting public benefits, productivity and resilience.

“However, the announcement made by DEFRA tells us, with great clarity, how much we will be losing in terms of the BPS without giving anything like the detail needed to understand how this can be recouped through the new schemes. Whilst they will be given access to new schemes, no details of the payments available have been given.”