Standfirst: Following the Spending Review, Defra has secured a multi-year funding commitment from HM Treasury. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026 to 2029. Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% over this time period.
To bring HLS payment rates closer to those offered under CSHT and SFI, we’re investing £30 million to increase payments for most HLS options. The rates are now on GOV.UK.
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.
Farm visits help us to better understand how farmers work and what’s important to them. In this post, I'd like to share what I learned during my visit to Hampden Bottom Farm in Buckinghamshire.
Cholderton is a 1000-hectare estate on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border. It participated in one of Defra's environmental land management test and trials to develop a model land management plan based on the exemplary principles adopted by the estate. In this guest post, Merrick Denton-Thompson shares his view.
Earlier this summer, we said that we would launch the first competitions of the new Industry-led Research and Development Partnerships Fund in October. I'm pleased to say that we’re on track. The £17.5 million Industry-led Research and Development Partnerships Fund is the first of 3 funds to launch in the new Farming Innovation Programme. Applications for a share of this funding will open Wednesday 20 October 2021.
Some of our colleagues are also farmers. In this post, Ben Keene and Brian Longman introduce the Defra Farmer's Forum, the group which brings them together. They also share their stories. In the months that follow, we’ll hear from more farmers who either work in the Future Farming and Countryside Programme or support our work from their teams elsewhere in Defra.
At the start of this year I posted about what we had in store for the year. This post is about how we’re getting on and what’s coming next.
My name is Harry Baker Cresswell. I farm Preston Mains Farm in Northumberland. I have been involved in tests and trials since 2018. It has been a great opportunity for myself and the 52 other farmers in the 23 Burns Collective to help Defra co-design the new environmental land management schemes. I'd like to share my view.
Farming is going through the biggest change in a generation.
Government's approach to working with the sector is changing too.
Click on the link below for an overview of the programme, our schemes and delivery timeline.
This week, we’ll be at:
NSA Sheep South West in East Knowstone Devon – 25 June
The Royal Norfolk Show in Norwich – 25–26 June
The CAAV Conference in Edinburgh – 27 June
Come and say hello to our team.
You can find us at these agricultural shows and conferences in 2025.
