A seventh round of the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund (CSSF) is now open following NFU lobbying.
The CSSF application window opened on 7 November and is open until 25 January 2023.
This round has a longer application period than in previous years, with agreements starting on 1 June 2023 and will last three years.
The fund is a part of Defra’s plans for a renewed agricultural sector, which is centred around incentivising sustainable farming practices alongside profitable food production.
The £2.5m fund aims to help groups of farmers in England improve the natural environment at a landscape scale by facilitating knowledge sharing, in line with local Countryside Stewardship priorities.
The fund enables farmer groups to work together to improve the natural environment at a landscape, rather than single-farm, scale
The scheme also facilitates knowledge sharing by helping facilitators to provide advice and share expertise with groups of farmers and land managers.
There have been six previous rounds of the CSFF, benefiting 180 groups with over 4,000 members.
This round of funding is expected to benefit more than 40 further groups.
During 2021-2022, the CSFF offered £3 million for collaborative groups working to deliver agri-environmental priorities with 45 applications received.
Paul Caldwell, chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) added: "I am delighted we are able to provide farmers and landowners with another opportunity to come together on projects to improve their local environment.
"We want to see uptake from new and existing groups to deliver large-scale environmental improvement in their local areas, create valuable connections and share farming knowledge."
Responding to the announcement, the NFU said: "We welcome the new round and recognise the value of collaborative funding."
