Without farmers delivering the scheme, Countryside Stewardship (CS) will not exist – that’s the message the NFU took directly to Farming Minister George Eustice yesterday.
The NFU’s top priority on CS is simpler and more accessible guidance. Just 13 per cent of farmers in the NFU’s CS survey said the guidance answered their questions and 82 per cent were not satisfied with the ease of finding the information they needed.
NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “The most important part of the scheme is farmers’ ability to make it work for both the environment and their business.
“We’ve seen some huge holes in the first year of the scheme – the ‘wobbly’ start which Defra admitted to – which tell us it needs significant work. We are holding Defra and Natural England to the commitment they’ve made on improving the scheme every year.
“Farmers shouldn’t have to decipher guidance - it should be simple, usable and available as early as possible. We know the appetite is there for agri-environment schemes and we need to make it easy for farmers who are interested in applying to do so.
“We stated the need for a longer application window to the minister. This would allow applicants the time to develop applications before harvest. Record-keeping requirements must be sensible and there should be something in it for livestock farmers – the scheme must have environmental options for this sector.
“We are confident that if improvements are made then uptake will also improve. And with this, we must have the reassurance that resources will be in place to deliver Countryside Stewardship agreements in a timely manner.”
Countryside Stewardship is seen as a way to improve the landscape. Creating new woodland can support wildlife and improve water quality. It can also help to reduce flood risk as part of an integrated approach to catchment management. In the right place, woodland can play an important role in reducing flood waters, delaying their passage to watercourses, and decreasing siltation, increasing the capacity of river channels.
The new hedgerows and boundaries capital grant opens for applications from the 1 February 2016 and closes on 30 April 2016. It offers up to £5,000 for farmers who want to restore boundary features, such as hedges and stone walls, to protect their local wildlife or landscape.
Earlier this month, Farming Minister George Eustice welcomed the opening of the application rounds, saying: "This Countryside Stewardship scheme has a crucial role to play in helping to restore habitats so we can see a recovery in wildlife populations like farmland birds and pollinators, while creating larger woodlands will also help reduce flood risk.
Through our 25-year Environment Plan we will be looking at delivering benefits across wider landscapes and whole water catchment areas by bringing together Countryside Stewardship, flood protection and other environmental spending."
