Funding

The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs Huw Irranca-Davies confirmed that BPS would continue to be available in 2025

"This support is not only important for farmers and crofters producing a fantastic product from some of the toughest farmland, but also to the local communities which see a huge amount of reinvestment from these businesses"

"Farmers and crofters must prioritise these annual application forms in the next few days"

Daera said farm businesses which have not yet applied are urged to do so now to avoid late claim penalties and to allow enough time to check that their information is accurate

The roundtable will prioritise looking at ‘further and alternative proposals' to achieving additional carbon sequestration within SFS

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said Steve Barclay had been clear the Government would continue the BPS phase-out, and the union are considering how hard they are prepared to ‘fight' on the issue

CLA senior land use policy adviser Cameron Hughes said: "CLA members I speak to are often surprised at the breadth of options available through the Capital Grants scheme."

Savills senior woodland consultant Luke Hemmings said there were many landowners who were keen to increase their carbon storage and habitat potential of their land, but the ‘approval process' for planting new woodland was an issue

The increase in funding for farm productivity from 40 to 50 per cent, on top of the extra money available for solar panels, means the Improving Productivity Grant is likely to be even more popular among farmers this time around