Green campaign relaunches as 'Championing the Farmed Environment'

The name change is an 'opportunity to celebrate the work farmers are doing', the partnership said
The name change is an 'opportunity to celebrate the work farmers are doing', the partnership said

The Campaign for the Farmed Environment has relaunched as Championing the Farmed Environment to focus on the green benefits farmers deliver.

The partnership, initially launched in 2009, supports farmers to deliver environmental benefits within a productive farm business.

It was launched in response to the abolition of compulsory set-aside through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Amid concerns around the environmental impacts of the announcement of a 0% agricultural set-aside level for 2008, the NFU and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) put forward a proposal to establish the partnership as a preferred alternative to compulsory set-aside in England.

The campaign has now relaunched as Championing the Farmed Environment (CFE) to mark the development of the partnership since its inception a decade ago.

The CFE will also be supporting events around the country to talk to farmers about the future direction of the project and encourage others to get involved.

A new website is also being launched based around the central campaign themes of soils, water, air and wildlife. It will set out actions which farmers can take to ensure their farms produce environmental benefits within the operation of a sustainable business.

CFE project officer, Laura Harpham said: “Alongside producing safe, traceable and affordable food, the focus has increased on the environmental goods which farming delivers for the landscape, wildlife and the public.

“The name change is a great opportunity to celebrate the work farmers who are already engaged with CFE are doing, and to get more people involved.”

The CFE is supported and advised by Defra and other organisations such as LEAF, AHDB, Catchment Sensitive Farming, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

It follows the government’s 25-year Environment Plan which calls on the farming community to balance the production of safe, traceable and high-quality British food with the protection and enhancement of the British countryside.

This includes protecting the essential public goods it manages for the nation; clean air and water, healthy soils and a flourishing natural environment.