Funding

A new £12 million research and development fund, Farming Innovation Pathways, has been announced by Defra and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Farmers who applied for 2020 Countryside Stewardship (CS) grants almost 12 months ago are still in limbo after civil servants said they could not visit their farms to sign off applications due to Covid-19.

The Foundation for Common Land (FCL) has offered to provide training to Defra staff after the department appointed an official with no prior knowledge of common land to focus specifically on policy for commons.

Record low or negative interest rates could see more farmers investing in new projects such as diversifications, expansion or kit that will help make them more efficient and reduce their carbon emissions.

Environment Agency (EA) bosses have told Ministers they need a greater budget if they are to ‘reverse the decline in nature’.

Rural communities in Wales are facing a double hit of potential cuts to development funding, Plaid Cymru has warned.

Rural communities in Wales are facing a ‘double hit’ of potential cuts to development funding, Plaid Cymru has warned.

Agri-environment subsidies could provide more stable farm incomes than direct payments, a new study of farms in England and Wales has found.

Welsh farmers will continue to receive the same level of funding in 2021 as they received in 2019 – there is no need for worry about rural spending, says Paul Davies MS, leader of the Welsh Conservatives.

Farmers cannot afford to lose half their BPS income over the next four years. Government must maintain current farm payments until the new ELM scheme is rolled out in full to protect the future of family farming, says Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.