Make Environmental Stewardship work for you
Free Environmental Stewardship farm walks, organised by ADAS on behalf of Natural England, are going to be held in late January and early February in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Launched in 2005, Environmental Stewardship enables farmers in England to secure regular payments for undertaking simple to manage environmental protection and enhancement work on their land. With 37,000 Environmental Stewardship agreements in place, equivalent to over half of England’s agricultural land, the majority of these walks will demonstrate how these schemes support farm businesses and the environment.
The walks will provide a refresher on the management requirements for Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and offer the opportunity to discuss and share experiences of option management with other local farmers in the scheme. For farmers yet to sign-up for ELS, these events will be particularly useful. In addition the targeted funding and advice available from Natural England will be explored, with a brief introduction to ELS.
There will also be a brief introduction to Higher Level Stewardship (HLS).
The walks will be led by local ADAS consultants who will be joined by Simon Tonkin, the regional advisor from RSPB, and an adviser from Natural England. Both walks commence at 10.30 and finish by 13.00 and count for BASIS and NRoSO points.
Environmental Stewardship farm walks in January and February 2009
On 29 January the walk at Catfield, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 10.30 – 13.00, is on a 157 hectare arable farm growing winter wheat, winter and spring barley as well as sugar beet, with specialist potato and salad land rented out. The farm has an ELS agreement in place based upon the following options: buffering in-field ponds, rush pasture management; field corners and pollen and nectar mixes. In addition, the farm has one field in the organic scheme (OELS) and has also entered into a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) based on wet heathland creation, over-wintered stubbles and public access.
The walk at Frostenden near Beccles on 4 February runs from 10.30 – 13.00
and is also on a farm with both ELS and HLS agreements in place. This 281 hectare farm is predominantly arable with some woodland. The range of crops grown includes cereals, sugar beet and vegetables.
Numbers on these Environmental Stewardship farm walks are limited so farmers should reserve a place in advance by emailing conservation@adas.co.uk with details of your name, full postal address and holding number. Alternatively telephone the event booking line on Tel: 01954 268301.
Other regional farm events are being planned during 2009 by Natural England’s in-house Land Management Advisory Service focusing on the farm business opportunities and practicalities of entering/managing Environmental Stewardship. To register your interest for these events only, please email farmevents@naturalengland.org.uk or contact the event hotline on Tel: 0113 230 3753.
Information on these and future events are also shown on the Natural England website at www.naturalengland.org.uk/planning/farming-wildlife/events.asp
