Following the Secretary of State’s presentation at the Oxford Farming Conference this morning, Defra have published a series of documents relating to Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes.

We welcome the announcements on payment rates as it will help to strengthen the value of public goods delivery through Countryside Stewardship for many farmers. Grasslands have benefited the most from changes to the payments. For some the increases are much smaller and will have limited impact on the value of their agreement. The calculations are still based on income forgone plus costs and we continue to work with Defra through our policy work to support them in finding alternative methods to value public goods for future schemes. Capital Items have not been updated despite inflationary pressure impacting the cost of implementing works.

The updates include some really important and useful information on the high level principles for the Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes we have included links and key point below.

 

    

 

• Revised CS revenue payment rates for all existing and new CS agreements. These payment rates will be in effect from 1^st January 2022. On average payment rates have increased by 30%, full details are available here.
  • Key changes include, obviously these reflect reductions in BPS so not a massive net increase for farmers but a significant change:
    • GS5 (Upland grassland increasing from £16/ha - £71/ha, an incredible increase that will make a massive difference in the uplands.)
    • AB2 – Overwintered stubbles for new agreements starting 2023 will reduce from £84 - £58, existing agreements will not change.
    • GS2 (Lowland grassland increasing from £95/ha - £132/ha)
    • AB13 – will not be available in CS from this year onwards. It will remain in existing agreements.
  • Other expected changes include an online application process, new options and further reductions in supporting evidence requirements all of which will be outline when the scheme manual is published.
  • The RPA will be sending letters or emails today to agreement holders telling them of the change, if you receive one as an agent please forward to the agreement holder.

 

• Local Nature Recovery (LNR) – more information on how the scheme will work.
  • Limited detailed information but provides more confidence on the high level principles of the scheme and scale of roll out.
  • It will be option based and will build on existing CS options with additional elements such as species reintroduction, in-field trees, restoration of peatland and wetland.
  • Collaboration is a key element Defra want to push and one ambition that goes further than refining what is currently available through CS and there are references to some examples in the document.
  • Defra will continue the work to simplify the application and administration of the scheme.
  • There will be a single application route for SFI and LNR for online applications. Both schemes will be compatible with each other.
  • There is still ambiguity over the relationship between private and public finance but the principle is to allow farmers to enter carbon trading, biodiversity net gain units and nutrient trading alongside government schemes.
  • Land Management Plans are seen by Defra as a valuable element and are working on how they might be used as part of both SFI and LNR.
  • Agreement durations look as though they will vary depending on the options selected but that there will be great flexibility to allow more options or land to be included into agreements.
  • Checks will be more efficient and risk-based and Defra are working on how earned recognition could help target checks. Checking will also aim to be more supportive and less punitive.
  • In 2023 Defra will be seeking around 500 applications in the initial roll-out with full access available by the end of 2024.

 

• Landscape Recovery (LR) - more information on how the scheme will work.
  • First round due soon and there will be at least 2 rounds over the next two years. First round will be for up to 15 LR pilots with project areas targeted at between 500 – 5,000ha which could include group or individuals applications.
  • First round will target two themes: recovering and restoring England’s threatened native species and restoring England’s streams and rivers. These first projects are hoped to achieve 10,000ha of restored habitat, at least 25 – 50k tonnes of carbon savings a year and improved status of 45-57% of Species of Principle Importance in England e.g. curlew, marsh fritillary, sand lizard. (This final achievement is not clear as there are 943 species described under Section 41 List of Priority Species which is also referred to as Species of Principal Importance)
  • There will be no standard payment rates or options and proposed projects would not allow activity that could be funded through an existing scheme (This seems as though it will significantly restrict the number of potential applications). Agreements will be assessed on value for money and delivery of significant outcomes.
  • Assessment of applications will be done by a panel of Defra, Defra agency specialists and external specialists (details of who will be published) and selection will be based on factors including: longevity, environmental benefits, carbon and climate resilience, social impact (access, community etc), costs.
  • Highest scoring applications will be offered support to fund a development phase that will be up to 2 years. Some projects coming from Test and Trials and other projects may be ready to go or have shorter development phases.
  • The project implementation phase will then include long term agreements of 20 years plus and will include long-term safeguards such as conservation covenants or possibly other designations.
  • There will be a 16 week application window for the first round, dates to be published.

 

• Outcomes from Environmental Land Management Schemes -
  • 70% of farmers covering at least 70% of land to take up SFI agreements by the end of the transition period. With significant numbers (not defined) entering LNR.
  • LR projects covering 20,000 ha through at least 10 projects by 2024.
  • 60% of England’s agricultural soils under sustainable management by 2030. (25 year environment plan states 100% by 2030, Defra don’t consider environmental land management schemes the only mechanism)
  • Expect environmental land management schemes to reduce agricultural emissions by 6 MtCO2e per annum in Carbon budget 6 (2033 – 2037). (Current emissions are around 45 MtCO2e from ag.)