Jersey’s new Rural Economic Strategy (RES) 2017-2021 was published on 14 February and could be a world first. The plan proposes changes to the way rural businesses receive financial support from the States. It is expected that all farms receiving financial support from the States will be part of the Leaf Global Standard within three years making Jersey the first jurisdiction in the world to achieve this across the entire farming sector.
The current Single Area Payment will evolve into the new Rural Support Scheme which promotes sustainable agriculture. The Leaf Global Standard marque is independently audited and will incentivise businesses to farm in the most economic and environmentally sustainable way.
The new RES proposes new policies to keep pace with changes in the rural economy and promote growth in the sector as well as to ensure the impact of rural business on the wider environment is considered. It aims to change the current financial support mechanism from a payment based on the area farmed model to a performance based model, as well as to incentivise the most economically and environmentally sustainable approaches to farming in Jersey.
For more information on the new RES visit www.gov.je.
