Farmers should be aware of hedgerow and boundary grants of up to £5,000 from Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship scheme, says Alice Mesney of Strutt & Parker’s Stamford office.
Alice Mesney continues, “Applications for grants opened at the beginning of this month and must be received by Natural England by 30th April 2016. Farmers who want to restore boundary features, such as hedges and stone walls, to protect their local wildlife or landscape, must be registered with the Rural Payments Agency. Applicants who accept offer of the grant will enter into a 2 year agreement with Natural England and any capital items funded through the scheme must be retained in condition for 5 years”
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.”
Natural England’s Chief Operating Officer, Guy Thompson, said: "The new hedgerows and boundaries grant comes as we’re bringing in a whole raft of improvements – such as providing better guidance material, lengthening application windows, and introducing a new online tool – to Countryside Stewardship this year to ensure it continues to bring much-needed benefits to our natural environment.
"We’re seeing significant results through our agri-environment schemes, including farmers looking at ways they can improve their farming practices to reduce the risk of flooding – whether that’s through improving their crop management, creating new habitats, reducing soil erosion, or working together at a catchment-scale.
"We encourage farmers to apply for these grants so we can continue to make Countryside Stewardship better this year."
The range of grants covers hedgerow laying (£9.40 per metre), hedgerow gapping (£9.50 per metre) and hedgerow coppicing (£4 per metre)
Alice Mesney concludes, “The scheme is competitive and applications will be scored so there is no guarantee of getting the grants. Applications are more likely to be successful if it is a smaller holding, if the farm has previously held an agri-environment agreement such as an Entry Level Stewardship Agreement or has applied for at least £1,000 of capital works.”
