NFU anger at removal of management plans from environmental schemes
The NFU has reacted angrily to news that the European Commission has insisted that management plans must be removed from the Environmental Stewardship schemes after Defra announced the go head for its Rural Development Programme England.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "Obviously this enables the Rural Development Programme to now go ahead but this risks the very spirit of the scheme that was first envisaged by Sir Don Curry.
"The removal of these plans, especially those covering pesticide stewardship and soil management, is deeply regrettable and difficult to believe. This change undermines the very spirit of the scheme and it severely compromises two key industry projects, the Environmental Plan for dairy farming and the Voluntary Initiative" he said.
"Farmers and growers are rightly being challenged to minimise their impact on the environment and as such tens of thousands have taken up this challenge via their Entry Level Scheme agreements, with ELS management plans an integral part of their individual response. ELS management plans have allowed many farms to enter the scheme and now this option is being taken away – it simply defies logic. I am bitterly disappointed the Commission has insisted on this position and we think they are wrong. It is also doubly disappointing that some farmers will risk losing their schemes because of the initial mapping delay at the RPA."
The NFU has met immediately with Defra, Natural England and FWAG to consider the implications of these changes, to minimise the impact on those with provisional agreements, and to identify ways of capturing the benefit of ELS management plans in the current review of Environmental Stewardship and to do so as soon as possible. "It is vital that Natural England provides the very highest levels of help to farmers affected by these changes and the minimum number of farmers are adversely affected", added Mr Kendall.
"I will be seeking an early meeting with Defra Ministers to urge them to publicly commit to the principle that ELS is a scheme available to all, or 'broad and shallow' as it was first envisaged. I am greatly concerned that the removal of management plans as well as Natural England's proposals to alter hedgerow management options will move the scheme away from this aim. I am sure we all want the majority of farmers to participate in ELS to tackle the priorities of water quality and biodiversity as well as recognise farming for its vital work of protecting the English landscape," he said.