​​The Rural Economy Strategy, developed by Economic Development in conjunction with Planning and Environment, is designed to secure a prosperous future for agriculture and the rural environment. It was adopted by the States in July 2005 and is due for revision in 2010.

The Strategy follows the States Strategic Plan and the Economic Growth Plan and aims to deliver increased efficiency and greater diversification within the countryside whilst at the same time protecting and enhancing all those features that define our unique landscape and environment.

The Strategy:

• gives a clear picture to businesses in the rural economy of States support until 2010, allowing them to plan with confidence
• replaces the present production led subsidy system with a Single Area Payment, payable per vergee which will promote market responsiveness and lead to increased self reliance
• makes the receipt of these direct aid payments conditional upon achieving basic levels of environmental performance
• enables the high specification glasshouse sector (principally tomatoes) and the dairy sector to undergo a transition into more efficient operations that are less dependent on States intervention by  rolling forward the planned subsidy payments for the high specification glasshouse sector for the period 2006 to 2008 in to a single payment made in 2006, thereafter reducing to the basic Single Area Payment, and providing transitional support funding to the dairy sector (the Quality Milk Payment)
• works with the dairy industry to find a way of improving the performance of the Island’s milking herd by up to 20% through very strictly controlled exceptions to the general ban on the importation of cattle semen - within the context of a closed herd
• creates an incentive for new entrants to the industry by establishing a new category of agricultural land occupant, the Smallholder
• introduces a Rural Initiative Scheme to stimulate rural economic growth by supporting innovation and enterprise – such as the creation of a Genuine Jersey Meat industry
• recommends a review of planning policies connected to the countryside so as to assist economic activity whilst at the same time protecting and enhancing the rural environment
• enhances the environment and increases public access to the countryside through the new Countryside Renewal Scheme