With the ongoing development of agricultural transition in England, this week Defra published more information on the three Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including actions, payment rates and when each scheme will be available. The three schemes are:
- The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) that will pay farmers for sustainable practices that will protect and enhance the natural environment alongside food production and farm productivity
- Countryside Stewardship that will fund targeted actions relating to specific locations, features and habitats.
- Landscape Recovery that will pay for bespoke, longer-term, larger scale projects to enhance the natural environment
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Countryside Stewardship and Landscape Recovery are the two schemes of particular interest to Institute members.
Countryside Stewardship
Alongside updated payment rates for revenue and capital options, Defra announced the evolved Countryside Stewardship Plus (CLP) scheme that replaces the former Local Nature Recovery scheme. CLP will reward farmers for taking coordinated action, working with neighbouring farms and landowners to support climate and nature aims. Defra plan to continue to evolve this scheme into 2024 and intend to offer SFI and Countryside Stewardship in a single integrated service.
Landscape Recovery
The first round of successful Landscape Recovery projects were announced last year and include hundreds of farmers and landowners working together. Defra has just announced that the next round will focus on net zero, protected sites and habitat creation, opening in spring 2023. If you are interested in submitting an application, stay tuned for dates of Defra-hosted webinars on the application process.
Visit this page for a summary of the recent updates to the ELM schemes.
