Scheme could help farmers bridge funding gap
Signing up to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme could help farmers bridge what looks to be the inevitable funding gap which will open up when basic payments start to fall in 2021, but before the Environmental Land Management Scheme is widely available in 2024-25.
Given that the money to fund ELMS will only be released in steps, as basic payments are phased out over the transition period, it seems likely that there will be restrictions on the numbers able to join the new scheme in the early years.
The government’s own timetable suggests that ELMS pilots should start in 2020, but it may not be fully up and running until 2025 – halfway through the timetable for the phasing out of direct payments.
Countryside Stewardship has had its issues over recent years, but farmers should not rule it out without considering how it might benefit their business.
Farmers are being told that BPS payments will be phased out from 2021 and, at this stage, it looks likely that it may be three or four years after this date before ELMS is widely available. So CSS could provide a useful income stream as farmers navigate the change from direct support to payments for the provision of public goods.
Some people may be thinking it is better to wait and see what the new scheme looks like. However, the government has given assurances that if any future scheme is better than the mid-tier scheme then there will be the option to switch.
Farmers can choose to make a full mid-tier application which gives them maximum flexibility in terms of the options from which they can choose. Alternatively, they can apply for one of four streamlined ‘wildlife offers’, where the management options on offer are far more limited, but the application process is simpler.
The 2019 application period for CSS opened on February 18.
The deadline for requesting applications packs for the mid-tier scheme is May 31, with an application deadline of July 31.
In addition to a wide range of land management options, capital grants of up to £10,000 are also on offer for a range of work that will contribute to efforts to raise water quality.
This includes concrete yard renewal, roofing for silage and muck heaps, watercourse crossings and hard bases for livestock drinkers and feeders.
George Dickin, Farming Graduate in the Shrewsbury office of Strutt & Parker
