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Kathryn Smith

Guest blog by Alice Groom, Senior Policy Officer

Defra set out a robust and ambitious vision for domestic agricultural policies in the Health and Harmony consultation in 2018. Central to this was a high-level of environmental ambition, and commitment to redirect public money from area-based subsidies to public goods via a new environmental land management scheme.

Since 2018, it feels as if the ambition is waning as Defra struggles to articulate a clear vision and direction for Environmental Land Management (E.L.M.) and the wider Future Farming and Countryside Programme. Brexit uncertainties and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated a painfully slow policy design process.

Field margin, grass and farm woodland. Image: Ian Francis (rspb-images.com)

Nonetheless, the case for ambitious agricultural policy reform, as set out in Health and Harmony, remains strong. It is essential to the delivery of the government’s environmental commitments, to meet societal demands for a healthy environment and to place farming and land management in England on a sustainable footing.

E.L.M. Components

Name Details Who can apply
Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) Will pay for actions that all farmers can so which will help them manage their land in an environmentally sustainable way Available to a wide range of farmers
Local Nature and Recovery Will pay land managers for actions that support local nature recovery and deliver local environmental priorities; making sure the right things are delivered in the right places Open to farmers and other land managers
Landscape Recovery Will support the delivery of landscape and ecosystem recovery through long-term, land use change projects, including rewilding in places where that's appropriate Open to farmers and other land managers

Key Concerns:

  • E.L.M. feels increasingly disconnected from the Government’s environmental commitments. With 70% of the land farmed, E.L.M needs to be able to make a significant contribution to the recovery of wildlife and efforts to reduce emissions and store carbon for example. However, Defra has yet to articulate clear SMART objectives for the scheme to guidance scheme design, inform budgetary allocation and ensure value for money.

  • The last 2-3 years have seen the gradual chipping away of the ambition set out by Defra in Health and Harmony. The design assumptions Defra is making for E.L.M. are unlikely to support the transformational change needed in farming and land management practices, or at the scale needed to tackle the nature and climate crises and place farming on a sustainable footing. For example, it is not currently clear that the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) or component 1 of E.L.M. will measurably deliver public goods. Instead it risks replicating the shortcomings of Entry Level Stewardship, for example through the inclusion of significant deadweight and limited additionality. It is not currently up to the job we need it to perform. Nonetheless, by 2023/4 c£900 million may be invested in this scheme annually. Instead the SFI should be structured to support a safe and meaningful transition to genuinely sustainable nature friendly farming. Encouraging farmers to manage c10% of their land for nature whilst undertaking sustainable agronomic measures that deliver a range of public good to society, such as genuine integrated pest management. The Farm Wildlife six key actions provide a perfect model for the SFI:

Farm Wildlife Six Key Actions

The Farm Wildlife Partnership is comprised of nine environmental NGOs and the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), that work together to provide a single source of best-practice management advice for wildlife on farmland. The Partnership has identified six key actions that can drive the recovery of farmland wildlife:

  • Protect existing semi-natural habitats (e.g. species-rich grasslands, woodlands and scrub)
  • Maximise the value of boundaries (e.g. hedges, ditches and margins)
  • Provide flower-rich habitats, on at least 2% of the farm (e.g. meadows and sown pollinator areas)
  • Provide seed-rich habitats on at least 2% of the farm (e.g. sown bird seed mixes, fodder crops and unharvested headlands)
  • In-field management, including progressive soil management and integrated pest management (e.g. fallow plots, green composts, cover and inter cropping, herbal leys, pesticide reductions)

At the farm scale, there is clear evidence to suggest that devoting 5-10% of farmland to the first 5 Farm Wildlife actions has significant positive impacts on wildlife abundance within that farm. If the SFI could support this level of provision, it would provide a sound foundation from which the Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery components could build. 

  • No progress on regulatory standards – rather than building from the comprehensive Dame Glenys Stacey review of Farm Regulation, Defra is going back to scratch on regulation. Following the debates last year during the Lords stages of the Agriculture Bill, Ministers promised an ‘intensive consultation’ on the future of farm regulation, to happen last autumn. This did not happen beyond a few welcome but fleeting ‘co-design’ workshops. Defra has now kicked plans for a formal consultation further into the long grass.

  • Defra has not clearly set out a road map to support a transition to sustainable nature friendly farming. The lack of a clear roadmap is creating a lot of uncertainty for farmers and land managers, and risks undermining meaningful reform. Defra needs to clearly communicate a route map, whilst investing in advice, guidance and training to support change.

Final thoughts

Defra isn’t on tract to ensure E.L.M. will make a significant contribution to tackling the nature and climate crises. They are at risk of simply re-inventing the wheel which would be a poor deal for nature, taxpayers and farmers. Nonetheless, there is still time and it is essential that this time is seized to reinvigorate E.L.M. and deliver the ambition set out in Health and Harmony back in 2018.