Developing a new agricultural policy post-Brexit to support productive farmers and removing red-tape were among the main themes coming out of the political session at this week’s Oxford Farming Conference.

The session saw NI Agriculture Minister McIlveen line up alongside counterparts from Britain, including Defra Farming Minister George Eustice, to debate future agriculture policies. While there wasn’t any great clarity on what lies ahead, Minister Eustice did give assurances that the British government will fund an agriculture policy once the UK leaves the EU. He is keen to get away from the current system of Pillar I (Direct Payments) and Pillar II (Rural Development Programme) and was critical of area-based payments. “We will deliver support to proper farmers not slipper farmers,” he said.

He also talked about agri-environment type schemes, promoting knowledge transfer, improving soil and crop husbandry and insurance/margin protection type measures.

On flexibility afforded to various devolved governments, Eustice maintained that while regions such as NI will be able to amend new policies to local needs, it will be against the backdrop of a coherent UK framework. “We don’t want big distortions in the UK market. There will be measures to prevent large, anti-competitive subsidies in one part of the UK,” he said.

In her contribution to the debate, Minister McIlveen said that she would like to see a transitional support system brought in. She also highlighted local concerns about the movement of goods across the Irish border, the opportunities for increased trade into Britain and the potential to remove some of the bureaucracy in local farming.

That was also a point made by Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom in her address, when she announced that her department is to consult with industry in the coming months on potential reform of red tape. During her speech, she said that Brexit brings the opportunity to ditch the three-crop rule (greening requirements for arable growers), scrap rules requiring businesses receiving EU funding to display this on billboards, and use more satellite technology in farm inspections.