Yesterday, Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries and Janet Hughes, Programme Director, Future Farming and Countryside Programme appeared before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
The session was part of a committee inquiry into the rollout of the new environmental land management schemes.
Questions from members were wide-ranging and addressed:
- government’s plans for designing and rolling out the schemes
- progress in delivery, and the timelines for future delivery
- the numbers of people signing up to environmental schemes
- the approach to setting payment rates paid to farmers through schemes
- how the schemes will deliver the intended outcomes
Watch the session on Parliament TV.
Read the full transcript of the meeting.
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3 comments
Comment by Barrie Crowther posted on
No certainty on what these schemes entail or the monies involved. Seems to me they will be more bother than they are worth for small/ medium sized farmers and will cost more to implement than the returns. Maybe OK for large farms / estates but not worth a light to someone like me. This net zero thing has got out of hand and does not fit in well with food production. Continue down this road and see food shortages in the near future, Barrie
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Barrie,
We're working hard to make sure that all farm types, regardless of size, location and ownership or the systems they use, can benefit from our new schemes.
Please do take advantage of the free, independent business advice on offer to farmers in England:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-free-business-advice-for-your-farm/organisations-giving-free-advice-in-your-area-listed-by-county
Advisers are listed by county. Their contact details are provided so you can get in touch with one directly. They'll talk you through the changes to farming in England and will help you plan for the future.
Simply put, we are providing farmers with two ways of receiving money: through one-off grants and ongoing payments. You can pick and choose from the offer to find a package that works for you.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers
As an adviser will be able to give you tailored advice but in terms of schemes available now, if you're not in Countryside Stewardship, you can still sign up. If you're in CS already, you can get an extension of 5 years.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/countryside-stewardship-get-paid-for-environmental-land-management
The Sustainable Farming Incentive is open too. Details of what it entails and payment rates are available to look at on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sustainable-farming-incentive-guidance. We'll continue to add more standards (more actions we'll pay for) in the future.
The SFI scheme is about helping farmers produce food in a more sustainable way, not trying to achieve environmental outcomes at the expense of food production. SFI encourages food production and environmental benefits to go hand in hand, with farms making a healthy income as part of a resilient and sustainable business. We are introducing policies that work for farm businesses, food production and the environment.
We hope this clarifies.
The Team
Comment by Rob Kendall posted on
Excellent to hear such coherent and comprehensive accounts of positivity and progress regarding ELMS and associated initiatives. Very reassuring. Thank you