A Unified Agricultural Policy for the British Isles

Introduction

Farming is not simply a rural concern or an economic sector, it is fundamental to the foundation of national survival, security, and sovereignty. Without a reliable, self-sustaining farming industry, the British Isles risk dependence on fragile global supply chains, exposure to political and economic instability abroad, and the erosion of local communities at home. Food, quite literally, is power.

However, successive governments, regardless of political flavour, have treated farmers as instruments to be controlled through regulation, reshaped by subsidy, or sacrificed to trade deals. In fact, many in the civil service have never seen a working farm, and one can be forgiven for thinking they are all wealthy landowners of the type many in the civil service so despise. Many working farms barely make a profit in most years, they may have expensive equipment, but these are on long leases or purchase agreements, with the majority of farmers being tenant farmers and thus have rent to pay. The majority of farmers are no more wealthy landowners than miners where Mine owners.

Bureaucracy has become a daily burden, financial insecurity is endemic, mental health crises are rising, with farming carrying one of the highest suicide rates of any profession in the country. According to Baroness Twycross, in a letter to a question from The Earl of Effingham, in 2022 the UK saw 55 confirmed farming related suicides, but in 2023 this figure rose to 62, a rise of ~12% in a single year.

This is a national disgrace, being both a moral and strategic failure by the state.

The British Democratic Alliance proposes a new path – one of trust, local resilience, and respect. Government must adopt a hands-off position on how farmers operate their land, provided they meet safety, environmental, and animal welfare obligations. Farmers must be freed from petty interference, empowered to innovate, and both incentivised and supported in producing food for the nation without distortion or coercion.

The public must also be educated to face food reality. Food cannot and should not be artificially cheap. Price suppression through subsidy only hides the true cost, shifting the burden to all taxpayers while degrading the land and bankrupting the people who feed us. Britain must grow what it eats and pay a fair price for it. That means setting food prices at levels that allow farming families to thrive, not survive.

Subsidies should be phased out over a 10 year period and allow food prices a slow rise to offset this, replaced by a functioning market that rewards quality, sustainability, and national service.

Strategic Food Security – Can Britain Feed Itself?

It is both credible and desirable that the United Kingdom should be capable of feeding its population without relying on foreign imports. This is not to suggest an end to global trade or consumer choice, but rather to ensure that, should global disruption occur, the nation remains self-sufficient in core nutritional terms.

With a population of approximately 68 million, and assuming a basic calorific requirement of 2,000 kcal per person per day, the UK needs to generate just under 50 trillion kilocalories annually. While the UK currently imports around 40% of its food by value, much of this is driven by market forces, not by agricultural limitation. The land area under cultivation — some 17.6 million hectares — is more than capable of producing sufficient calories for the nation, if used strategically.

Under a reformed agricultural model, several changes would make this feasible:

Redirecting cereal crops from animal feed to direct human consumption
Optimising land use for high-yield crops such as potatoes, wheat, legumes, and oilseeds
Modestly reducing meat production in favour of dairy, poultry, and plant protein
Restoring marginal and set-aside land to productive use
Halving food waste, which currently exceeds 9 million tonnes per year
Supporting local cooperatives and regional food processing to reduce losses and increase efficiency
Expanding greenhouse and controlled-environment farming for vegetables and soft fruit

During the Second World War, Britain produced the majority of its food domestically, even under extreme pressure. With modern technology and cooperative planning, the UK could once again feed itself in terms of basic calorific and nutritional needs — and do so sustainably. The public must recognise that cheap imported food is often produced under conditions that would be illegal in Britain and that its true cost is hidden in subsidies, debt, and environmental harm.

Ensuring domestic food sufficiency is not isolationism. It is strategic prudence — a policy of resilience. It affirms that no Briton should ever go hungry, no matter the state of the world, and that British farmers are the first line of national security.

This policy lays the groundwork for such a future. One in which farmers are not just producers, but guardians of the land, protectors of food security, and partners in a resilient national economy.

Historical and Policy Context
Post-WWII farming relied on price supports, then transitioned to acreage-based subsidies under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
CAP incentivised quantity over sustainability and created perverse incentives for land hoarding.
Post-Brexit, DEFRA introduced Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, such as Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Local Nature Recovery, and Landscape Recovery.
These schemes are overly bureaucratic, inconsistently applied, and frequently detached from the practical realities of food production.

Positive Policy Elements
Past grants have aided some capital investment and improved some biodiversity outcomes.
Newer schemes do allow voluntary entry and promote public goods (soil, water, air quality).
Some R&D funding and innovation trials have been beneficial, especially in precision agriculture.

III. Negative and Harmful Effects

Payment schemes tied to land size benefit wealthy landowners more than active farmers.
Burdensome regulation, micromanagement of land use, and opaque application processes deter smallholder participation.
Imported food continues to undermine domestic producers due to low standards and cost dumping.
Dependency on herbicides and synthetic chemicals driven by short-term profit models.
Planning Regulation Reform
Current planning rules obstruct necessary infrastructure development.
BDA will legislate that any non-residential, farm-use building on agricultural land shall be exempt from planning permission provided:
1. It meets building safety standards,
2. It is solely for farm operations,

It is not used or leased for commercial third-party purposes.

Taxation

Working farms, that are operated by tenant farmers, privately owned, part of farming collectives or registered as a stand-alone company only for that specific farm will be exempt from paying VAT on any and all purchases related to the working farm, including all accommodation used by the farmer or farm workers when the property is within the boundary of the farm.
VAT exemption shall extend to energy and water use.
This exemption shall apply to all heavy farm machinery, whether purchased, leased or hired.
All persons directly employed on a working farm shall be exempt from personal taxation until their personal income exceeds £50,000 per year, then pay 10% on income between £50,000 and £75,000, and 15% between £75,000 and £150,000. This only relates to income directly from farming activities and not external income which shall have normal income tax rules applied to it where appropriate.
Sustainable Land Use Principles

The BDA encourages the development and adoption of integrated nutrient-incorporation systems, such as tractor-mounted hoppers dispensing calcium nitrate ahead of ploughing. While technical constraints may limit fully combined plough and harrow configurations on smaller farms, sequential passes will always remain a practical solution. The government will support research, grants, and cooperative funding for machinery adaptations that reduce labour, improve soil integration, and minimise nutrient loss. We will work with farmers and the NFU to make all policies fully workable.

Ban the use of herbicides and glyphosates to control field weeds. Instead, mandate plough-in and regenerative practices.
Promote organic and integrated pest management methods.
Encourage crop rotation, hedgerow restoration, and field margins to support pollinators and wildlife.
Be incorporated into the soil profile during ploughing or seedbed preparation, not left on the surface before rainfall.

Recommended Use of Calcium Nitrate in Sustainable Arable Farming

As part of a transition away from chemical herbicides and toward regenerative, input-efficient land management, the British Democratic Alliance endorses the controlled use of calcium nitrate as a soil enhancer. This compound delivers both nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻) and calcium (Ca²⁺), two essential nutrients for healthy crop development, and is notably less environmentally damaging than conventional ammonium-based fertilisers or foliar herbicides.

Intended Use in Arable Systems

Calcium nitrate is especially well suited for arable cropping operations where herbicide use is prohibited. In such systems, ploughing is reintroduced as the primary method of weed suppression, and soil fertility must be carefully managed to ensure successful crop establishment.

The recommended method is as follows:

Application of powdered or granular calcium nitrate immediately before or during ploughing, using a hopper or spreader mounted ahead of the plough shear.
The fertiliser is thus mechanically turned into the soil during ploughing, placing the nutrients within the upper 15–25 cm of soil where emerging crop roots will develop.
Within 2–4 days of ploughing, the soil is to be raked, using a power harrow or spring tine cultivator to create a level seedbed and the ground drilled.
Drilling must occur during a dry weather window to avoid leaching and ensure maximum nutrient retention near the seed zone.

This method ensures minimal runoff, optimal nutrient uptake, and an effective transition to a herbicide-free, high-resilience cropping system.

Recommended Crops and Benefits

While most crops benefit from nitrate and calcium supplementation, calcium nitrate is particularly beneficial to:

Leafy vegetables (e.g. lettuce, spinach, kale): Rapid nitrogen uptake supports early growth and leaf mass.
Brassicas (e.g. cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower): Calcium improves structural strength and reduces tip burn or internal browning.
Root crops – e.g. potatoes, carrots, beetroot – Balanced nitrogen encourages root development without excessive foliage.
Cereals and maize – Supports early establishment and tillering, especially in spring-sown varieties.
Fruit crops – where applicable – Calcium is essential for fruit firmness and shelf life, particularly in soft fruit and tomatoes.

Rationale for Powdered Form Over Liquid

For broad-acre applications in open-field settings, powdered or granular forms are preferred. These offer.

Slower release and lower leaching risk compared to liquid solutions
Compatibility with existing field machinery
Better storage and logistical simplicity for mixed operations
Ease of incorporation directly into the soil profile during ploughing

Liquid application is better suited to greenhouse crops or fertigation systems but is not practical or efficient in large-scale field operations where soil incorporation and rainfall are variables.

Policy Guidance and Oversight

To prevent environmental harm, calcium nitrate shall.

Be applied only in accordance with field-specific soil tests
Never be surface applied before heavy rainfall
Be used within a certified nutrient management plan
Be phased into regenerative systems with cover cropping, composting, and crop rotation.

By adopting this method, we believe farmers will improve early crop vigour, reduce reliance on synthetic chemical inputs, and build longer-term soil fertility. It is a critical component of the BDA’s broader commitment to resilient, sustainable food production.

VII. Localised Cooperative Systems

Introduce a scheme for regional farm cooperatives to pool and sell produce locally.
Co-ops can operate:
1. Shared farm shops with local branding,
2. Direct-to-consumer schemes (veg boxes, milk rounds),

Community-focused restaurants sourcing exclusively from local farmers.

Initial grants and tax reliefs to support cooperative formation, infrastructure, and first-year operational costs.
Oversight board to ensure profits are reinvested locally and supply chains remain transparent.

VIII. Food Security and Production Guarantees

Designate agriculture as strategic national infrastructure.
Provide guaranteed minimum prices for staple crops and livestock, based on production costs and seasonal variation until such time as the market is able to support real production costs and the ending of subsidies.
Stockpiling incentives for grains, pulses, dairy, and long-life food products within a national food reserve strategy.
Guarantee farmers a minimum income when weather, natural disaster or disease damages production based on real world costs for crops and livestock.
Technology and Innovation Incentives
Grants and zero-interest loans for upgrading to sustainable, high-yield equipment and storage facilities.
Grants and zero interest loans for the construction and maintenance of drainage ditches around all fields.
Grants to allow the fencing off of public rights of way to prevent public access to livestock and crop fields,
Farmers shall be given the right to redirect public rights of way around their field perimeter when fencing off would split the fields in two, on the understanding that access rights are not infringed.
Banning dogs from active working farm fields (unless owned by the farmer) (see point d above) with fines and prosecution for ignoring the ban. Fines to be paid to the farmer.
Grants will be given to farmers for the provision of bee hives around their fields to encourage bee colonies and support pollination. Additional incentives will be provided for practices that support wild pollinators, including maintaining flowering margins and reducing pesticide use
Grants shall be given to farmers to encourage the planting of broadleaf native tree species, such as oak, willow, ash, beech, yew and native fruit trees into hedgerows and on land that is non-productive. Where these trees are left to grow, and provide homes for other flora and fauna, farmers shall be paid a defined ecological stewardship rate per hectare per year, subject to annual inspection, to allow these mini environments to flourish naturally.
Legal and Oversight Provisions
Creation of a National Farming Ombudsman to mediate between farmers and regulators.
Periodic review of farming regulations to simplify compliance and ensure they serve food resilience goals.

This policy is not about nostalgia, protectionism, or subsidy culture. It is about building a future-proof farming model that feeds the nation, respects the land, and restores pride and prosperity to Britain’s agricultural backbone. The British Democratic Alliance believes that a secure, self-reliant farming sector is not only possible, but essential.