There is still no new information from Defra on how existing Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders can switch to the new scheme without a penalty, leaving many farmers, especially those in the uplands, trapped in poorly paid legacy schemes.
That was the message from environment and conservation manager David Morley, of H&H Land and Estates, who said, with a dwindling Basic Payment Scheme and no means of making up this lost income, it was farmers who have demonstrated a ‘long-term commitment to delivering environmental enhancement who are being unfairly penalised' through restricted access to the updated Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme.
Defra
The last CS Higher Tier application window closed 20 months ago and now Defra has announced its future plans for the scheme with new Higher Tier applications not open until ‘the summer' of 2025, and by invitation only.
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Mr Morley said it was down to Natural England, not the farmer, to decide when individual applications can be submitted. He added this was the latest in a ‘sequence of dispiriting policy decisions by Government' with the accelerated cuts to delinked payments and suspension of the CS Capital Grants.
New actions
Mr Morley said the re-vamped Higher Tier scheme will include ‘99 revenue action plus 33 supplements', and capital items designed to support the Higher Tier agreements. He said there were some new actions, but many of the payments were ‘largely unchanged', and questioned why the original scheme could not have been allowed to run for another year.
NEW ACTIONS
■ Manage medium or highdensity agro-forestry PAYMENT: £595-£849/hectare
■ Manage species-rich floodplain meadows PAYMENT: £1,070/ha
■ Connect river and floodplain habitats PAYMENT: £1,242/ha
■ Permissive open access PAYMENT: £92/ha
■ Permissive footpaths and bridleways PAYMENT: £77 to £221 per 100 metres ■Farmers with an existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier agreement that expires in 2025
■Other CS Higher Tier or Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders
■ Woodland managers with an approved Woodland Management Plan
■Applicants who are already engaged in discussion with Natural England and are already undertaking pre-application feasibility studies or implementation plans
He added an area of ‘significant' change was moorland management. "While the general moorland management payment remains the same at £55 per hectare, this can now be stacked with payments for specific stocking rates [£20-£66/ha] and combined shepherding and off-wintering actions [£33-£48/ha].
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Moorland and common land
For most moorland and common land with ‘priority' habitats, it should be possible to attract a combined payment/ha of at least £108." He said moorland agreement holders will now want to switch to the new scheme ‘at the earliest opportunity'.
Although applications cannot be submitted until summer, Natural England said it will be providing pre-application advice from January to those farmers that are being invited to submit an application.
Anyone wishing to apply for Higher Tier that does not fall into any of the priority categories will have to wait ‘until at least February 2025, before there is any guidance as to how they will be able to access the scheme'.
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Rolling application window
Mr Morley added on a ‘positive note', once open, the scheme will have ‘a rolling application window and rolling start dates'. "This means agreements can start every month and not just on January 1, as under the old scheme.
Potential priority cases
■Farmers with an existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier agreement that expires in 2025
■Other CS Higher Tier or Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders
■ Woodland managers with an approved Woodland Management Plan
■Applicants who are already engaged in discussion with Natural England and are already undertaking pre-application feasibility studies or implementation plans
A Defra spokesperson said: "The Government's commitment to our farmers remains steadfast, which is why we are making sure our schemes work for farmers who have too often been ignored, such as upland farms, including through the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme.
"Over 67,000 agreements for our Environmental Land Management Schemes are already live and we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – the largest budget for sustainable food production and nature's recovery in our country's history."
