Government to pay more to farmers who protect and enhance the environment

Farming Minister, Mark Spencer, announced more money for farmers and landowners through both the Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, which will provide more support to the industry and drive uptake at a time of rising costs for farmers as a result of global challenges. He also confirmed an expanded range of actions under the schemes, which farmers could be paid for, would be published soon.

The changes mean farmers could receive up to a further £1,000 per year for taking nature-friendly action through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). This new Management Payment will be made for the first 50 hectares of farm (£20/ha) in an SFI agreement to cover the administrative costs of participation and to attract smaller businesses — many of whom are tenant farmers — who are currently under-represented in the scheme. SFI is already paying farmers to improve soil and moorlands and an expanded set of standards for 2023 will be published shortly.

In addition, farmers with a Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement, of which there are now 30,000 across England, will see an average increase of 10 per cent to their revenue payment rates, covering ongoing activity such as habitat management. Defra is also updating capital payment rates, which cover one-off projects such as hedgerow creation, with an average increase of 48 per cent.

Meanwhile, capital and annual maintenance payments for the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and Tree Health Pilot (THP) will also be updated this year, helping incentivise farmers to incorporate more trees as a valuable natural resource on farms.

Taken together, these changes will mean more farmers are taking individual positive actions such as creating hedgerows and flower-rich grass areas on the edge of fields and will support farmers and landowners in making space for nature alongside sustainable food production. This will help us meet the UK’s legally binding environment targets and contribute to our aim of halting biodiversity loss by 2030, agreed at COP15 in December last year, while supporting the industry to farm more homegrown produce and take advantage of innovation.