News
20 Feb 2023

Update on the Environmental Land Management Schemes

Defra has recently published further information on the growth and rollout of the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS), with details available here. Additionally, the Government policy overview document can be accessed here.

For breeders who are currently registered with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA); already engaged in grant schemes; or interested in becoming involved in them; now is a good time to start thinking about what options may be suitable.  There are currently several opportunities for environmental grant support available that may be applicable to stud farms and the main ones are summarised below.

Countryside Stewardship

Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers to look after and improve the environment.  It aims to protect and enhance the natural environment by increasing biodiversity, developing habitats, expanding woodland areas, improving water and air quality and optimising natural flood management.

Mid Tier Countryside Stewardship

Mid Tier offers grant payments to support activities that benefit your local environment.  Land managers can apply for a combination of grants that are most relevant to their business.

Grants are available as:

  • management options – multi-year grants, payments made every year for five years.
  • capital items – a range of three-year grants for specific capital works.

You can access Mid Tier grants through different routes: Mid Tier, Simplified Wildlife Offers and Wild Pollinator offers.  Mid Tier has a wider range of management options and capital grants available, but the application process is competitive with applications scored and ranked in line with the available budget.

Countryside stewardship will open for new applications between Tuesday, 21 March and Friday, 18 August 2023, for agreements starting January 2024.  Payment rates have recently been increased to encourage uptake and the latest version of the CS manual can be accessed online here.

Capital Grants

The Capital Grants scheme is part of Mid Tier.  It provides three-year standalone agreements offering capital items to achieve specific environmental benefits in four groups:

  • boundaries, trees, and orchards
  • water quality
  • air quality
  • natural flood management

You can apply for CS Capital standalone Grants for 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.  The maximum amount allowable for a single application has recently increased to £80,000, but there is a limit of £20,000 for funds requested under each individual category.  Further information is available here.

Woodland Grants

The best options for woodland are found under the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) managed by the Forestry Commission.  There are several different grants available depending on your requirements.  Local woodland officers are able to advise regarding tree planting.

EWCO is open all year round, covers the standard capital costs of tree planting and the annual maintenance expenses for ten years.  The minimum total size of woodland included in a EWCO application is 1 hectare.  All woodland blocks within a EWCO application must be 0.1 hectare or more in size.  Blocks must have a minimum width of 20 metres except for riparian buffers and shelterbelts, where the minimum width is 10 metres.  Further guidance is available here.

Sustainable Farming Incentive

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will pay farmers to adopt and maintain sustainable farming practices that can protect and enhance the natural environment alongside food production and supporting farm productivity (including by improving animal health and welfare, optimising the use of inputs, and making better use of natural resources).  These are three year agreements, so a little more flexible than Countryside Stewardship.

So far three soil standards (Arable soils, Grassland soils and Moorland soils) have been introduced and an annual animal health and welfare review.

Alongside an annual management payment, six further standards will be introduced in 2023:

  • hedgerows standard
  • integrated pest management standard
  • nutrient management standard
  • arable and horticultural land standard
  • improved grassland standard
  • low input grassland standard

People with a CS agreement can also have a SFI agreement, so long as it is not paying for the same actions twice on the same piece of land, and the actions are compatible.  The application will be online and very straightforward - this can be found here.

Future Farming Resilience Fund

In addition to the aforementioned links to access Government guidance, Defra are currently funding free advice under the Future Farming Resilience Fund, which can cover information relating to farm business management, development workshops, and tailored technical and environmental advice.  ADAS has a new online registration portal where farmers and land managers are able to request support: www.adas.co.uk/ffrf.  Click on either of the ‘register your interest’ buttons, complete the online form, then a member of the ADAS team will get in touch to discuss how best to help.

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