Jonnie Hall from NFU Scotland says he would like to see a policy focused on returns from the market and less reliant on direct support payments.

Mr Hall says this will be a difficult task but it is about managing the change. 

He says is broad principle a support payment tool will be required to cushion the change. 

Image source, bbc

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant asks what basic principles should underpin agricultural policy.

Stuart Goodall from Confor says there is a huge issue around interpretation around legislation.

Mr Goodall says tens of thousands of pounds are being spent to meet an EU requirement on wood.

He says he would like to see a Common Countryside Policy rather than a Common Agricultural Policy.

Forestry has grown hugely in recent years, say Mr Goodall, adding 

Steven Thomson from SRUC says "we cannot conceivably make up all these rules within two to three years"

"We will have to take on the regulations" as they are and then "weed out the ones which are not fit for purpose," he says. 

According to the European Commission:, external

Farmers provide a stable food supply, produced in a sustainable way at affordable prices for more than 500 million Europeans. 

The European Union's farm policy ensures a decent standard of living for farmers, at the same time as setting requirements for animal health and welfare, environmental protection and food safety. 

Sustainable rural development completes the picture of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP).

Image source, bbc

22 million farmers and agricultural workers are at heart of one of the biggest economic sectors in the European Union (EU), the agri-food sector. 

Around 44 million jobs in food processing, food retail and food services depend on agriculture. 

The EU is also a net exporter of food and drink, with an average annual 8% growth in the value of exports over the past 10 years, reaching €129 billion in 2015. More  data on EU agri-food trade, externalSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••, external .

Helping farmers with income support and market measures, the common agricultural policy (CAP) also ensures sustainable rural development according to the specific needs in each EU country.

Jonnie Hall from NFU Scotland says there are layers of legislation that have to be "teased out very carefully". 

Mr Hall says we have to draw a line in the sand and say we will continue to operate under EU legislation and gradually change it so that we can continue to trade. 

Mr Mason asks if you would continue to allow the EU to feed in after April 2019.

Mr Hall says that is unanswerable at the moment but the influence of the EU will not disappear if we still want to trade with them. 

Image source, Getty Images

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) started in 1962 as the first members of what is now the EU emerged from over a decade of food shortages during and after World War Two.

Its emphasis was on production and food security but as farmers were paid for whatever they produced, they over-produced leading to food "mountains".

A reform process, including the "greening" of the CAP which emphasised environmental practices, has resulted in farmers mostly being paid depending on how much land they own - but some wealthy UK landowners now receive subsidies of up to £3m a year.

For instance, the Newmarket farm of Khalid Abdullah al Saud, billionaire owner of the legendary horse Frankel, receives £400,000 a year. Lord Iveagh who lives on the 22,486-acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk, receives over £900,000.

Working out what to replace EU subsidies with is raising passions.  

SNP MSP John Mason says the Great Repeal Bill will transpose European law into domestic law but the question is "how do we get there?"

Pete Ritchie from Scottish Environment Link says everyone agrees that, "if we are going to trade within the EU, many of the policies will mirror what is there."

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Mairi Evans asks what sort of funding should be able to the wider rural communities.

Jonnie Hall from NFU Scotland says Scottish agriculture and crofting receives £500m a year in CAP payments, but spends £2.7bn on all sorts of costs related to farming the land.

Mr Hall says that "drives the rural economy".

Image source, Getty Images

In January MPs from the Environmental Audit Committee warned on Tuesday of the dangers of Brexit to farming. 

Its report, the  Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum, external , says:

• Leaving the Common Agricultural Policy will threaten the viability of some farms
• Trade agreements which impose taxes on UK farm exports will threaten farm and food business incomes
• New trading relationships with states outside the EU could lead to increased competition from countries with lower food, animal welfare and environmental standards

Pete Ritchie from Scottish Environment Link says there have been lots of criticisms of agricultural policy that it is "too narrow". 

Mr Ritchie says agriculture policy isn't a domain on its own and "we need to develop our policy goals," he says. 

Image source, Scottish Land and Estates

Taken from the Scottish Land & Estates website, external :

"Scottish Land & Estates believes it is essential to demonstrate clearly what good land ownership and management means, and set standards of good practice to which all landowners should aspire.

The charter underpins the major social, economic and environmental contribution landowners and their businesses make to Scottish life, and provides a clear statement on how business, land based activity and partnership working should be conducted."

Written evidence from Scottish Land and Estates on Brexit: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  , external

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant says trade agreements will create the parameters by which we operate post-Brexit. 

Andrew Midgley from Scottish Land and Estates says the starting point is where we are at the moment which is that we have the power to tailor under the overarching framework of CAP.

Mr Mdgley says the idea would be to create a UK framework similar to CAP and that Scotland's powers would stay the same in being able to "tailor" as it is now.

He says the idea is that the overarching envelope has to be discussed at the table with the devolved nations and Westminster.

"We need to decide what we want," he says.

He says that there might be more agreement on this than people might think. 

Image source, Thinkstock

Last September farmers have raised concerns about fresh issues with subsidy payments overseen by the Scottish government.

Ministers had  set up a loan scheme  to get funds to farmers who were yet to receive Common Agricultural Policy subsidies because of IT issues.

However unions said there had been errors in calculating the loan offers sent out to hundreds of farmers.

A government spokeswoman said they regreted this miscalculation and were acting to get payments out on time.

Opposition parties said the CAP payment scheme had become a "complete shambles".

Delivery of EU subsidies to thousands of Scottish farmers were  affected by major issues  with a £178m computer system which was set up in Scotland to administer CAP payments.

A  report, external  from the auditor general noted that the project had " faced serious challenges since the beginning " and had suffered "a number of failures" in the way it was managed.

Read more here.

Image source, bbc

Jonnie Hall from NFU Scotland says the funding settlement is critical.

Mr Hall says it is all about the renationalisation of the CAP funding going back to the UK government.

He says it is vital Scotland makes the case to retain the same share of the existing budget, not the same share of the declining budget.

Mr Hall says there has been devolved agricultural responsibility since 1998.

He says the devolution settlement must allow Scottish ministers to set specific policy for Scotland.

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles says structures come before money and agriculture and forestry are devolved. 

Mr Rumbles says if powers are devolved to Scotland it will come under the Barnett Formula like everything else. 

The Lib Dem MSP asks whether it is preferable for the powers to come back to Scotland.

Steven Thomson from SRUC says the big question is "do we want to create internal UK trade disputes?"

Mr Thomson says if Scotland and England have different CAP structures we could quickly see difficulties with our biggest trading partner. 

"A framework where all the devolved nations and Westminster govenment come together" is preferable, he says.

"Otherwise we are going to end up with trade disputes," he adds.