Subsidies for solar farms to be cut to help safeguard farmland

I recently wrote a post Renewables: Solar update: Where we are now and Farming with and around them! which you can read here: https://blondeagadvisor.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/renewables-solar-update-where-we-are-now-and-farming-with-and-around-them/

I have updated this post this morning as we have now had confirmation that farmers will lose their right to claim subsidies for fields filled with solar panels from DEFRA.

The press release starts:

Farmers will lose their right to claim subsidies for fields filled with solar panels under new plans to ensure more agricultural land is dedicated to growing crops and food. The move will help rural communities who do not want their countryside blighted by solar farms.

Britain has some of the best farmland in the world and ministers want to see it dedicated to agriculture to help boost our food and farming industry that is worth £97 billion to the economy.

The change, which will come into effect from January 2015, will mean that farmers who choose to use fields for solar panels will not be eligible for any farm subsidy payments available through the Common Agricultural Policy for that land.

You can read the full press release here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/subsidies-for-solar-farms-to-be-cut-to-help-safeguard-farmland

If you have any renewables questions or would like to discuss any of the above further, do drop me a line, or James Fulton, our renewables chap! His details are here: http://www.berrybros.com/people/james-fulton

JP
@blondeagadvisor