A clearer picture of how farming might be financially supported after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 has started to emerge.

At the Oxford Farming Conference last week, Defra Secretary Michael Gove set out a vision that direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) could continue for five years after EU exit (essentially until 2024).

Within that, he talked about an implementation period lasting two years, when BPS payments would remain as they currently are. During this period, and depending on the final Brexit deal, it could be that UK agriculture remains part of the CAP, with limited scope to move away from EU rules.

But beyond that (probably starting in 2020 or 2021) there would be a transition period in England, running to 2024, during which changes would start to be made, effectively preparing farmers for life outside of direct payments.

The first change, and seemingly top of the Gove agenda is to cut payments to wealthy landowners. In 2016, a total of 174 farm businesses in the UK received more than £250,000 in direct payments (seven received over £1m), although none are in NI.

From 2024 onwards, Gove is clear that BPS in England will be replaced with a system of public money for public goods. In other words, farmers will only receive money for things such as planting woodland, returning land to wildflower meadows or allowing the public to access farmland.

But as a public good is generally defined as something that is provided, without profit, to all members of society, farming organisations will have a lot of lobbying to do to ensure that farmers are sufficiently rewarded for their efforts.

In NI, while agriculture policy is a devolved matter, the direction of travel is similar, although the policy currently being worked on does include the retention of an area-based payment into the long term for all farmers, but at a much lower rate than at present. Other money would then be re-directed at areas such as enhancing the environment, as well as farmer education and training.

That latter issue could prove contentious, as could the Gove conclusion at the Oxford Farming Conference that UK farmers will be at a “significant advantage” (over EU counterparts) outside of an area-based payment regime.