New Landscape for UK farming
The image being created by this government is to make out the countryside will look more picturesque and be better for the environment. . BJ said in the Commons in December. "What we are going to do is use the new freedoms we have after leaving the common agricultural policy to support farmers to beautify the landscape” In reality, they will cut subsidies to the least well off and provide nothing for the army of eager environmentalists. We know where and how much money is going to be cut and returned to the Treasury (around £2Billion) but not where a single penny will be spent.
George Eustice continued the massive con on Monday explaining how present (ex EU) subsidies are going to be cut, and promised that instead money would go to various ‘greening’ measures. Some commentators are saying it is a bad for sheep and dairy farmers but good for environmentalists. It is bad for small farmers, but not good for environmentalists. NEW GRANT AVAILABLE for farming in protected landscapes
Natural England study reviews carbon storage impact from England’s habitats, including native woodlands, saltmarshes, grasslands, heathlands and peatlands. "
Future Rural Land Use CAAV “Overall, marginal arable land might, as in previous times of pressure, be the most exposed to these changes, and is where the loss of Basic Payments could have the greatest impact,” says Mr Moody.
Green Tories and ELMS 12 Conservative MPs and peers "have set out proposals to restore nature and tackle climate change while strengthening the nation’s food security in a new essay collection "
Defra land use policies will fail nature and food production, warns expert Dr Alastair Leake says the government’s fixation with land abandonment, or ‘re-wilding’, risks undermining key opportunities to benefit nature, food production, and society.
Schemes
Landscape Recovery Scheme will "support the restoration and enhancement of natural ecosystems through land use change projects delivered over the long term. Test & Trials to "test the mechanisms required to deliver long-term land use changes with farmers and land managers."
Woodland Scheme "Offers rent to farmers and landowners in return for a long-term lease The Woodland Partnership is part of the Nature for Climate Fund to support the government’s tree planting commitment. Ultimately, the scheme aims to create significant new areas of high-quality, biodiverse woodlands across England. Explaining it further, Forestry England says it will require 'limited financial investment' from farmers and landowners, and no forestry expertise." Woodlands for Water
Green Offset Scheme for "farmers and landowners to find developers who need land to site natural capital elements following the launch of a new 'matchmaking' scheme. ‘The Green Offset’ links up parties looking to find land for any environmental requirements with landowners who have land available to facilitate this."
Peatland Restoration Farmers and landowners can now apply to a competitive grant scheme which aims to restore peatlands in the uplands and lowlands of England. The Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme (NCPGS) will provide funding until the scheme closes, in 2025.
3 new subsidies, each receiving around £1b . Sustainable Farming Incentive, 2 Local Nature Recovery and 3 Landscape Recovery Schemes
The SFI will be paid directly to farmers and will be between 1/10 - 1/3 of original BPS ones.
Local Nature Recovery will be paid to consortia of interested parties locally
Landscape Recovery will be similarly paid to consortia with a big backer
Environment
Some environmentalists will think getting rid of animals and planting trees is much better. If some of those desperate small farms could do that, that may be better for soils. Yet it may mean importing more beef with much higher footprint. SFT– pastures to trees not that straightforward
The money put aside by the government does not do that. The government are using some subsidy savings (equivalent to 4 yrs subsidy) to pay farmers to leave – not to plant trees. Tree planting comes as part of larger projects – - the Local Nature and Landscape Recovery projects, which small farms will not be able to access. Perhaps somebody is planning to buy up lots of small farms and replace with tracts of forest. Who will benefit from that? If we are serious about looking after our soils, sheep and cattle farms should be rewarded for looking after the poor soil – where there is twice as much soil life (and hence carbon) in their poor soils, than under large arable fields growing vegetables in our best soils.
Green Brexit still on for food & farming? "A coalition of the UK’s leading green groups concluded that the government has “fallen short” of delivering a Green Brexit – but there is still “huge” potential for the food and farming sectors, experts say.
Green Slums
Tree-planting: Why are large investment firms buying Welsh farms? "Plans to encourage more trees to be planted in Wales are under fire for "destroying communities" in rural areas. Large-scale investment companies have been buying farms across the country for afforestation - planting trees to offset carbon emissions. 'The trouble with trees' - worldwide. "In the build-up to COP26 later this year, tree planting is all the rage and huge targets are being set. Many assume that these are ‘degraded’ forests in need of rehabilitation, rather than highly productive, biodiverse ecosystems that support many livestock and people, and according to Joseph Veldman and colleagues such global restoration assessments may massively overestimate the climate mitigation of tree planting schemes. "
John Thomas sold his farm, he'd worked for 70b yrs when he retired three years ago. He hoped the new owners would take care of his family home in Cwrt y Cadno and safeguard it for future generations of farmers. "But it was resold earlier this year to a multi-national investment company called Foresight Group, based at the Shard in London. At auction, the guide price was exceeded and the farm, together with another local holding, sold for more than £2m"
"Dai Dyer, an agricultural consultant in the Tywi Valley, Carmarthenshire, has researched the buying and selling of farms in mid and south-west Wales. He warned the buying up of farms for tree planting became "a trend that might not be able to be stopped", turning "fruitful, productive farms that also house families" into "a house surrounded by trees".
The Welsh government said: "The Woodland Investment Grant Scheme is not a land purchase scheme."
Rural campaigners have gathered at the Royal Welsh Show in a bid to put a stop to mass tree-planting projects on Welsh farmland.
The Welsh government spent a £6 million buying up land for such projects,
"There are multiple reports of farmers being targeted through cold-calls made by agents working for investors wanting to buy farmland to plant trees". July 22
So where is this public money going to go? Remember that money £1.8B is now in the Treasurers’ hands? Wildlife Trust says: ”Four years on from the EU referendum, we still lack the detail and clarity on how farm funding will benefit the public.” We have not got a single example. Just picture this, as this is key. The money that was previously coming to rural areas like round here will in future be in the Treasury. Can we rely on that money being returned to improve our natural world?
Grants
The government say they are looking at 6-8 areas where it may be spent. “Farmers are going to get grants for protecting
Heritage' farm buildings and stone walls
Expanding hedges
Capturing carbon in soils
Cutting pesticides
Natural flood management including restoring river bends
Landscape recovery
Restoring peatland and planting new wood,
Reducing antibiotics
Improving animal health and welfare
It will be easier for big operations to get these grants, as many know the complexities for application, and it you are in the know you will do better.
Comments
CC says..
Is this the same stone walls some hill farmers have been thrown to
Despite already cutting the EFAs that did encourage hedge growing
Gov have dismissed all attempts to measure soil carbon so far
no guidance on which pesticides or how – instead could fund regenerative farm practices.
Is this to slow the flow? Go up river and reduce soil erosionl,
yes? Beautify!,
Better than relying on voluntary work, but not yet mapped peatlands.
Although gov allowing US meat reared on antibiotics,
Good luck.
Which of these 8 areas is going to receive the most of the Treasury cake. Equally they would get 600k each, which wont go a long way.
We are completely in the dark. It is ‘pie in the sky’ stuff, just like a magician will distract you from what is really going on. There are no funds allocated to any of these measures, let alone any targets. This is against the backdrop that DEFRA could not even measure land area for EU subsidy purposes – and were fined half a billion Euros for not doing the job.
Take soil improvement. Eustice promises they will go beyond something called ‘income foregone payments'- eventually. But the Foundation for Common Land says there was much debate about ‘natural capital’ being the base for soil improvement, the research and data is there. But the Treasury said it is too expensive. There are no targets, despite previous promises from Minister Rebecca Pow – who studied at then the best Agricultural College in the world (a few years after me). There are not even indicators, despite many detailed models, nor measurements, let alone funding. They promised the earth but are delivering nothing. Check to see about new Soil Standards as being main SFI vehicle.
There is not a single mechanism in place to pay farmers to improve the environment, including capturing carbon. We are trusting that the Treasury will cough up – four years from now. Are you confident that all those monies will be spent? Is this an accident? There is nothing after 4 years of consultations going round the country, and academic reports. Why will the next 4 years be any better? I am not hopeful. It is the Emperors clothes, a gigantic con. They say there will be a major trial with 5000 farmers starting – at the end of next year. Tier 2 & 3 are the big projects - some marshes and forests, that look good from the City’s laptops. The government will not be bothered as it racks up food imports of cheap food - as Truss promises reliving the repeal of the Corn Laws that drove UK agriculture into a 70 year slump.
Carbon Bank
How are we going to keep this government – not know for its truthfulness, to account? We should be campaigning that the subsidy savings should go into a clearly delineated – hypothecated -pot – let’s call it a ‘Carbon Credit bank’. The clue is in the name. We could set up a joint science and citizen’s committee/jury to decide where and how to allocate the monies based on a series of criteria generally agreed. We should have a transparent track of where the money is going, otherwise that money will easily be lost – and more worryingly go to Ministers’ mates for a fancy project.
Biden's new Ag Secretary says: “Given climate skepticism by many in rural America, it is critical that agriculture, forestry, and other rural stakeholders view themselves as USDA’s partners to achieve climate goals,” A white paper. “We recommend USDA’s initiatives emphasize collaboration, incentives, the historic resiliency and innovation of agriculture and forestry, and the critical role that rural America can play in helping address climate change while creating jobs and economic opportunity.” Their white paper calls for a “carbon bank” at USDA that would “finance large-scale investments in climate-smart land management practices.”