Back in 2018, UK Government launched its 25 Year Environment Plan. This sets out how we will improve the environment over a generation by creating richer habitats for wildlife, improving air and water quality and curbing the scourge of plastic in the world’s oceans.
This plan acknowledges that our natural environment is our most precious inheritance, and that our country is blessed with a wonderful variety of natural landscapes and habitats. The significance of a 25 year plan is that this forces a long-term approach to protecting and enhancing these landscapes and habitats for the next generation.
We hold our natural environment in trust for the next generation. Like with anything we hold in trust, this is all about leaving it in a better state than we found it, and passing on to the next generation a natural environment protected and enhanced for the future.
Farm subsidies are front and centre of attention at the moment. The ‘public money for public goods’ replacement for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy will reward farmers for ‘public goods’, including:
- managing land or water in a way that protects or improves the environment;
- supporting public access to and enjoyment of the countryside, farmland or woodland and better understanding of the environment;
- managing land or water in a way that maintains, restores or enhances cultural heritage or natural heritage;
- managing land, water or livestock to mitigate or adapt to climate change;
- protecting or improving the health or welfare of livestock;
- conserving native livestock.
Our farming business receives less than £2,000 of support under the current Basic Payment Scheme, and this shift in focus is seen as a welcome change that rewards the right behaviours.
Our landowner partners have been minded this way for many years, and we don’t expect this reform to require radical changes to the way we farm. In fact, our belief is that our model will be looked upon favourably following reform, and many dated livestock farming systems will be left behind in favour of systems like ours. That said, system change alone is not enough. This is all about hearts, minds and values.
Our ethos and values are aligned to the spirit of the new scheme, and we hope that this will enable the landowners with whom we work to obtain financial reward for their commitment to sustainable farming. The industry eagerly awaits better and further particulars of the mechanics of the replacement subsidy scheme – more to follow on this!