Applicants for the Countryside Stewardship scheme have an extra month to complete their Mid Tier application and send it to Natural England.
The deadline for applications has been extended from 31 July to 31 August, allowing more time for farmers to fill out their forms during the busy summer months.
Over 10,000 farmers and land managers requested an application pack ahead of the 31 May deadline earlier in the spring.
Whilst the majority of applicants issued their requests for an application pack before the deadline, Natural England said is on track to issue all application packs to farmers and land managers by the end of June. This leaves two months to complete the form.
Entering a Countryside Stewardship agreement can bring multiple benefits to soil health, water quality and create habitats for wildlife on farmland.
This can improve the quality of the food that is produced, reduce the risk of pollution from farming, and see the return of cherished species such as the curlew and lapwing to farmland.
For the 2018 application window, four new “wildlife offers” have been introduced for upland, lowland, mixed farm and arable, with a shorter form to fill out and a streamlined selection of options depending on farm type.
New entrants to CS, or farmers coming to the end of a legacy Entry-level Stewardship scheme, are guaranteed an agreement.
Applicants who wanted to apply for a wildlife offer, but received the incorrect pack, should contact Natural England about their application.
