Why do farmers in uk get paid for not growing crops?

Question

Why do farmers in uk get paid for not growing crops?

Answer 1

Advances in agricultural technology has increased so much in the past years that a farmer could produce a way higher output of crops in a smaller piece of land. Since we can only consume a certain amount of food, the demand doesn't change much. However, an increase in the supply of food substantially decreases the price of food. Therefore, farmers don't sell their amount of food at the same price, and their income decreases. It's important to note that governments subsidize this so that all the farmers collectively decrease their growth instead of individual farmers, which wouldn't necessarily drive the price of food up. Absurd, but take a course in economics and you can have a better understanding of the system.