Farmers urgently need more details on new environmental payment schemes so they can plan for the future says CATH CROWTHER, East regional director of the Country Land and Business Association

 

At the Oxford Farming Conference this month, farming minister Mark Spencer announced more funding for farmers and landowners through Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, with the aim of providing more support and increase uptake in the schemes.

The changes mean farmers could receive up to a further £1,000 per year for taking nature-friendly action through the SFI.

This new management payment will be made for the first 50 hectares of farm (£20/ha) in an SFI agreement, to cover the administrative costs of participation and to attract smaller businesses – many of whom are tenant farmers – who are currently under-represented in the scheme.

SFI already pays farmers to improve soil and moorlands. Mr Spencer confirmed that an expanded set of standards for 2023 will be published shortly.

The CS scheme will see an average increase of 10% to revenue payment rates, which covers ongoing activity such as habitat management. Capital payment rates are also being increased by an average of 48%. These payments cover one-off projects, such as hedgerow creation.

The announcement shows government is listening and adapting to the concerns of farmers. It reduces uncertainty, supports proper valuations and creates stronger incentives for a wider range of farms to enter into the schemes.

All this is to be welcomed, but everything is moving just too slowly. We have had many promises of improvements in the future, but what we desperately need are details of payment rates and standards for 2023, particularly for SFI 2023.

All of this comes after a turbulent year for politics. In 2023 a calmer and quieter period is needed where proper focus is given to emerging legislation. I don’t think anyone can blame me for hoping that we can get back to some "boring" politics.

Boring does have its merits, though, because it means the machinery of government is operating correctly and there are opportunities to improve things for our members, who are a range of farmers, landowners and rural businesses.

The stagnation of 2022 left many policy areas in limbo due to the lack of information on agricultural reform in England and a shake-up of the planning system in the Levelling Up Bill.

The lack of clarity regarding the Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) has left many of our members frustrated and resulted in reduced uptake in the schemes because people don’t know what is involved in them.

This year will be an important one for Rishi Sunak to make his mark if the Conservative Party has any hope of retaining power at the next general election, whether it happens this year or in 2024.

So far, the prime minister has yet to display any policy direction that could be identified as "Sunak-ite". This has largely been on purpose though, as it was the big policy ideas in Liz Truss’s political agenda that eventually led to her downfall.

However, setting policy direction is not only reliant on the prime minister – the Conservative Party needs to find consensus this year and move on from 2022, which was populated with public arguments and rebellion from within the party.

Competence will likely win the next general election, and is what Keir Starmer and the Labour party will be hoping to project to the electorate.

While the polls point towards a Labour win at the next election, it will depend on Sir Keir’s ability to convince people to move their votes to Labour, rather than simply be dissatisfied with the status quo.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) will continue to work with Labour, both in the rural affairs team and across other shadow departments, to make sure it is fully briefed on rural issues.

Alongside the agricultural transition and rural issues such as crime, connectivity and planning, the CLA lobbying team will also be focusing its attention this year on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and Rural Powerhouse’s latest inquiry, which will publish a second report looking at the impact of the cost of living crisis on rural communities.