Natural England representatives have been touring the country in an effort to encourage more farmers to join the revised mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship scheme and take up the new ‘Wildlife Offers.’ Wendy Short went along to one of the presentations to find out what membership might have to offer.
ONLY about a dozen farmers turned out for the Natural England meeting held at Jersey Farm, Barnard Castle.
After a prolonged spell of heavy rain and low temperatures, the sun shone on the day and many producers were doubtless taking advantage of the good weather to get on the land or tackle lambing jobs.
Some were left unimpressed after learning about the complexities of the new Mid-Tier Country Stewardship Scheme, which is accompanied by nine new options, and equally unmoved after hearing about the potential rewards of taking up one or more of the four new Wildlife Offers (WOs).
The WOs are split into four sectors – lowland grazing, upland, mixed farming and arable.
However, Neil Carter, of SAC Consulting, insisted that the non-competitive WOs could be attractive to farmers whose Entry Level Scheme agreements had come to an end over the past two years.
He urged anyone with an interest in either of the schemes to act quickly, but pointed out that farms on Sites of Special Scientific Interest were not eligible to apply.
Mr Carter said: “The agreement start date is January 1, 2019, but application packs must be requested by the end of May this year, with applications submitted before the end of this July.
“Many farmers will choose to site their WOs on ground which does not perform as well as the rest of the farm and they are also likely to be the places with the potential to be the most beneficial to wildlife.
“From our perspective, scheme membership will improve farmers’ credentials by demonstrating that they are giving the public value for money. They will also reward them for their efforts to benefit wildlife.”
Mr Carter added: “Unlike some of the other schemes, the WOs do not qualify the holder for any capital grants. Nevertheless, they do pay farmers on an income foregone basis.
“It includes the cost of establishment, which might involve the purchase of seed for sowing wild bird feed mixtures on arable land, plus an average figure to cover the loss of crop yield. The grassland option may not incur establishment costs, but the payment has been designed to reflect the loss of production of the sward, due to the lower input system.”
The full Mid-Tier level scheme also comes with a start date of January 1, 2019, but applications were competitive and approval would depend on whether the farm was situated in areas which are classified as high priority for meeting a number of environmental targets.
These priority areas could be found by entering the farm postcode into Natural England’s MAGIC interactive, web-based system. Examples included breeding areas for upland birds, rare plant species and land which was prone to flooding.
The scheme has a duration of five years, with the exception of the water capital grants element, which spans only a two year period.
Full Mid-Tier membership holders can apply for capital grants for items such as the roofing of manure stores, hedgerow laying and livestock and machinery hardcore tracks.
“Producers can have WOs and full Mid-Tier schemes running concurrently, but they must not cover the same parcel of land,” explained Mr Carter.
“While full Mid-Tier is competitive, few farmer applications were turned down on the last round of applications. There is a reasonable chance of qualifying, provided they meet the requirements.
“One farmer, for example, has submitted an application which would be worth £24,000 per year over the five-year period.
“Many farms in this region are considered as having features that are valuable to the environment and may have little difficulty in selecting criteria which will enable them to secure one or more of the WOs.”
One delegate, who did not wish to be named, commented that he found it difficult to understand the scheme rules and was not likely to be signing up.
“As an older person, I find all of these schemes to be highly complicated,” he said.
“The officials are telling us that the new arrangements have been simplified, but it does not seem that way to me. I would need to employ an agent to help me with the paperwork and that would add to the expense of compliance.
“Our farm has just come out of an Entry Level Scheme agreement and it would take a lot of convincing to persuade us to join any of the new schemes; it seems as if they impose a lot of restrictions, with little in return.”
He added: “For example, we were awarded points for retaining rushes on our grassland.
“A date was given for us to be permitted to cut them down, but by that time it was too wet to get on the land. The result has been that the rush population has become out of hand and we have lost a lot of valuable grazing.
“The scheme we were considering lasts for five years and that is too long a commitment for a farm business; who knows what might happen after Brexit?” he said.
Another anonymous commentator was also concerned about the complex requirements.
“I think that some farmers will find that the rewards simply do not justify the effort involved in making an application.
“Many of us enjoy seeing wildlife on our farms and voluntarily take measures to protect the animals, birds and insects.
“What I have seen so far frustrates me and going online to try to understand what is required is not something I want to do at the end of a long day.”
