Agriculture Act 2020
What this means for your business
- Enforced by
- The Crown Estate, Crown Estate Scotland, Food Standards Scotland, APHA, DEFRA, Forestry Commission, Natural England
- Applies to
- United Kingdom
- On this page
- 1 compliance obligation, 9 practical guides
What you must do
1 compliance obligation under this legislation.
Management duties 1
Provide requested information and limit its processing as specified
If you receive a formal request for information under the Agriculture Act, you must give it in the person, format, method and time the request states. You can only use or share that information for the purposes and in the ways the request allows, and you must consider anonymising it if disclosure could harm commercial interests unless the Secretary of State says otherwise.
Practical guidance
Our guides explain how to comply with the requirements above.
Sector-Specific 9
Prepare for farm inspections and audits
How to prepare for regulatory inspections and farm assurance audits. Covers which bodies inspect farms, what triggers inspections, …
SFI closure and transition to future farming schemes
What the SFI closure means for farmers and how to plan for the transition. Covers what happens to …
Comply with farming environmental regulations
How to comply with environmental regulations for fertiliser storage and application, pesticide use, cross-compliance standards, and nutrient management …
Understand farm rules after cross-compliance ended
What environmental, animal health, and land management rules still apply to farms now that cross-compliance has ended. Explains …
Prepare for the end of BPS delinked payments
What farmers need to know as delinked payments end in 2027. Covers payment reduction schedules (76% in 2025, …
Understand Landscape Recovery funding for large-scale environmental projects
What Landscape Recovery is and whether it could suit your land. Covers the three-phase process (project development, implementation, …
Compare ELM schemes to choose the right environmental funding
Comprehensive comparison of England's Environmental Land Management schemes - Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship (CS), and Landscape …
Apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier
How to apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreements in England. Covers invitation priorities, the 99 base …
Understand your farm's regulatory obligations
A regulatory map for UK farms, showing which of 10+ regulatory bodies apply by farm type. Links to …
Sections and provisions
65 classified provisions from this legislation.
Duties 7
- s.4 Multi-annual financial assistance plans The Secretary of State
- s.5 Annual and other reports on amount of financial assistance given the Secretary of State
- s.19 Duty to report to Parliament on UK food security
- s.25 Requirement must specify purposes for which information may be processed purpose specified
- s.26 Requirements under section 23(1): duty to publish draft requirement which
- s.27 Provision of required information and limitations on its processing
- s.35 Red meat levy: payments between levy bodies in Great Britain payment which is
Powers 27
- s.1 Secretary of State's powers to give financial assistance
- s.2 Financial assistance: forms, conditions, delegation and publication of information
- s.3 Financial assistance: checking, enforcing and monitoring
- s.6 Monitoring impact of financial assistance etc
- s.8 The agricultural transition period for England and the termination of relevant payments
- s.9 Power to modify legislation governing the basic payment scheme
- s.10 Power to provide for the continuation of the basic payment scheme beyond 2020
- s.11 Power to provide for phasing out direct payments
- s.12 Power to make delinked payments
- s.13 Power to provide for lump sum payments in lieu of relevant payments
- s.14 General provision connected with payments to farmers and other beneficiaries
- s.15 Aid for fruit and vegetable producer organisations
- s.16 Support for rural development
- s.17 Continuing EU programmes: power to provide financial assistance
- s.22 Modification of certain assimilated direct legislation in connection with exceptional market conditions and for general purposes
- s.23 Agri-food supply chains: requirement to provide information
- s.28 Enforcement of information requirements
- s.29 Fair dealing obligations of business purchasers of agricultural products
- s.30 Producer and interbranch organisations etc: application for recognition
- s.31 Recognised organisations: competition exemptions and further provision
- ... and 7 more powers
Definitions 6
- Schedule 4 Agricultural products relevant to marketing standards provisions the Aromatised Wine Regulation
- Schedule 6 Provision relating to Northern Ireland relevant year specified
- s.7 Meaning of “basic payment scheme” and other expressions in Chapter 2 Relevant payment Delinked payment
- s.24 Meaning of “agri-food supply chain”
- s.51 Interpretation the CMO Regulation DAERA primary legislation
- Schedule 5 Provision relating to Wales
Exemptions 8
- Schedule 7 The CMO Regulation: consequential amendments
- s.20 Declaration relating to exceptional market conditions
- s.21 Exceptional market conditions: powers available to Secretary of State
- s.39 Organic products: supplementary
- s.42 Reports relating to free trade agreements
- s.44 Regulations under section 43: limits on provision of domestic support in the United Kingdom
- s.50 Regulations
- Schedule 2 Recognised organisations: competition exclusions