How Lincolnshire farmers will tackle CFE

Mr Harding, of Blankney Estates, says gowever, ELS will not suit all Lincolnshire farms, he says.

“In Lincolnshire, particularly in the area around Boston, which is some of the most fertile land in the country, there are a lot of intensive vegetable growers and ELS may not be a suitable option for them. Sometimes, it just doesn’t fit in with the way they farm.

“What we have to do is encourage them to contribute a small area to voluntary environmental measures, which will actually have very little, if any, impact on economic performance.

Assessing options

“Even on this fertile land, they have to include break crops in the rotation and I think this is an area they could focus on as an opportunity to look at some of the options.”

The Lincolnshire Local Liaison Groups will be also be organising events specifically for agronomists and other professional advisers as they will be key to the campaign.

‘We hope to use them to get the message across to farmers. Most people have an agronomist or some kind of adviser and, hopefully, they will be able to help farmers get over the misconception that they have to make a big economic or area sacrifice to make an environmental contribution.

“This is a voluntary scheme. The consequence of doing nothing is the reintroduction of compulsory set-aside.

“However, it won’t be set-aside as we know it and it will all come out of productive land. There will be no industrial crops and no offsetting and it will come with more regulation, cross compliance measures and inspections.”

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