FARMERS are to lose their rights to claim for financial support for fields with solar panels.

In a bid to ensure agricultural land is dedicated to growing crops, subsidies have been scrapped for farmers claiming for fields generating solar energy.

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

Environment secretary, Elizabeth Truss, said: “English farmland is some of the best in the world and I want to see it dedicated to growing quality food and crops. I do not want to see its productive potential wasted and its appearance blighted by solar farms. Farming is what our farms are for and it is what keeps our landscape beautiful.

“I am committed to food production in this country and it makes my heart sink to see row upon row of solar panels where once there was a field of wheat or grassland for livestock to graze.

“That is why I am scrapping farming subsidies for solar fields. Solar panels are best placed on the 250,000 hectares of south facing commercial rooftops where they will not compromise the success of our agricultural industry.”

The reform is expected to slow down the growth of solar farms in the countryside in England. There are currently 250 installed, with the biggest covering as much as 100 hectares.

Under previous plans, the number of fields dedicated to solar farms was set to increase rapidly, with over 1,000 ground-based solar farms expected by the end of the decade across the UK.

These changes will make solar energy less financially attractive to farmers.

The decision is part of a drive by Environment ministers to ensure that the new Common Agricultural Policy delivers maximum benefits for the English food and farming industry, as well as providing greater benefits for rural communities, the environment and wildlife.

NFU chief renewable energy adviser Dr Jonathan Scurlock said: “This announcement represents a further loss of flexibility for farmers and growers in enabling them to comply with and indeed potentially enhance the new CAP greening measures.

"However, the withdrawal of Basic Payment will make very little difference to the growth of solar energy in Britain, since the level of income from sale of electricity or market rents for solar farms is much higher. Ground-mounted solar is already very close to becoming competitive without any government support.

“It is a shame that this has turned into a food versus energy debate about land use, especially when energy production, food production and biodiversity in solar farms most certainly can co-exist.”

Chris Holloway, director of WinAcc, said: “The environmental ‘cost’ of producing solar PV panels is significantly outweighed by the long-term benefits.

“It is, of course, also true that solar farms use land, and so WinACC would prefer solar farms to be on land which is not suitable for growing crops. Animals and wildlife can graze under solar panels.

“It makes sense for public subsidy to support the growth of renewable generation, just as it supported or supports North Sea gas exploitation, and the development of nuclear power.”