With spring upon us and the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) juddering into action, Policy officer Tom Lancaster turns his focus to the new agri-environment scheme in England, Countryside Stewardship.
The application window for the new Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme is approaching, and we’re hopeful that many farmers are thinking about applying. With the window running from July to September, perfectly timed for harvest (!), thinking seriously now about your application, will pay dividends as the deadline looms. Whilst a lot of detail remains to be ironed out, Defra and Natural England have recently compiled all that does exist on their website, providing information about the new options, payment rates and other scheme details.
More focused than Environmental Stewardship, CS is a competitive scheme, using targeting to try and make sure that every penny counts. But this does not mean that farmers will be somehow ‘freezed out’ – everywhere will be a priority for something. For lowland farmers in particular, a key element of the scheme is the ‘Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package’, a collection of measures designed to be simple to deliver but effective for wildlife.
Image 1: Options available under the Farm Wildlife Package will include sown wild bird seed mixes. (Andy Hay: rspb-images.com).
The Farm Wildlife Package includes options such as pollen and nectar mixes and wild bird seed mixes, and applicants to the so-called ‘middle-tier’ of the scheme will be expected to aim for 3-5% of their farmed land under these sorts of options. Although the coverage of the scheme will decline compared to Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), the hope is that focusing effort and resources will have a greater impact. For those in HLS under the current Farmland Bird Package, all of this will be very familiar territory, and a similar package of options has been developed for the ‘higher-tier’ of CS.
These packages are based on the best available evidence, and have been developed though a partnership approach, with Natural England working with NGO’s, the farming industry, farmers and national pollinator scientists to bring together the evidence, knowledge and practical experience to make it possible. A recent scientific paper by the RSPB and Natural England found that this package approach used in Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) led to positive impacts for a range of priority farmland birds. Across forty farms surveyed in 2008 and then again in 2011, monitoring found that lapwings, grey partridge, yellowhammers and more all benefitted from this sort of proactive management.
Image 2: A recent paper has shown that Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) benefits reed buntings, with a 7% increase on farms under HLS between 2008 and 2011, compared to a decline on control farms of 40% over the same period. The Countryside Stewardship Farm Wildlife Package replicates many of the options that benefit this species. (Mike Richards: rspb-images.com)
If Countryside Stewardship provides the tools, and this evidence the confidence that the Farm Wildlife Package could make a real difference, what we need now is farmers and land managers to be enthused and engaged with the new scheme.
We recognise that CAP fatigue has well and truly struck. IT breakdowns, new rules and a lack of information means that it’s a near full time job just keeping up to date with developments. But the time is now or never to recover farm wildlife, and although the new scheme will be more competitive than ELS, managing 3-5% of your farmed land through the Farm Wildlife Package should significantly boost an applicants chance of success.
If you’re a farmer, and interested in applying for Countryside Stewardship, one of our regional advisers may be on hand to provide advice and support, or come at see us at Cereals stand 434 for help putting together an application for your farm. We a running a series of free 1-2-1 advice sessions at Cereals, where advisors will use digital mapping to help explore how you can maximise the benefits of CS for wildlife on your farm. As the sessions are likely to be popular please email the following address for more information and/or to book: conservation-advice@rspb.org.uk
For further updates on Countryside Stewardship and or the RSPB's stand at Cereals please follow the farming blog or updates on @AgriODowd
By Tom Lancaster (Agricutural Policy Officer): thomas.lancaster@rspb.org.uk