U.K. Farmers Get $3.8 Billion Over Two Years to Offset EU Exit

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said the government will provide 2.9 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) of funding over two years to support farmers as Britain leaves the European Union.

The assistance will ensure that farmers receive the same funding next year as they did from direct payments from an EU subsidy program this year, the government said in an emailed statement.

“When we leave the EU and are freed from the Common Agricultural Policy, we will be able to support our vital rural communities -- who are a cornerstone of life in the U.K. -- with a fairer and less bureaucratic system,” Javid said in the statement. “Farmers can enter the New Year with confidence that they have our backing and will be able to thrive after Brexit.”

The funding will be available to farmers starting in late 2020, as in previous years, according to the statement.

Many U.K. farms aren’t viable without payments from the EU’s CAP system, which accounted for 61% of the average farmer’s income in 2014-17, according to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in London at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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