10 years after its initial launch, the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) will be relaunched as Championing the Farmed Environment to begin a new phase of its development.
The government’s 25-year Environment Plan calls on the farming community to balance safe, traceable and high-quality British food with the protection and enhancement of the British countryside. In the context of this increased focus on environmental public goods in everyday farming practices, the work of the CFE is more important and relevant than ever.
Under its new title CFE will continue to work with industry partners and partner initiatives to support farmers to deliver environmental goods as part of a productive and profitable business. We continue to work closely with the Voluntary Initiative and Tried & Tested to provide practical, accessible guidance on how farmers can incorporate good environmental management into their farm business planning.
This includes taking care of the natural resources on farm which support a healthy natural environment. The CFE website* has been redesigned to make it easier to access the information farmers need to deliver environmental goods which work for their farms.
The central themes of Soils, Water, Air and Wildlife set out actions which farmers can take to ensure their farms produce environmental benefits within the operation of a sustainable business. For example, habitat creation to support pollinators; soil management to reduce product run-off and more efficient fertiliser spreading to avoid water pollution and save on costs.
The founding partners of CFE (the NFU, AIC, CLA and GWCT) have always represented key players within the agricultural community and identified strongly with the central principles of sustainable farming practice delivering for both the environment and farm businesses. CFE is also supported and advised by organisations with specialisms in these areas, including LEAF, AHDB, the Wildlife Trusts and Bumblebee conservation.
In the next phases of CFE we will continue to develop joined-up messaging with the many other organisations promoting environmentally sustainable farming, to make guidance easier to access and implement for farmers.
Following the national relaunch event at the end of February we will be supporting events around the country, delivered by the CFE’s established network of regional coordinators, to talk to farmers and industry partners about the future direction of the partnership, and encourage others to get involved.
If you would like to learn more about the work of CFE please visit www.cfeonline.org.uk or contact the project officer at cfe@nfu.org.uk. Details of forthcoming events will be available online shortly and we hope you will join us in making the next 10 years as successful as the last 10.
Recently appointed CFE Project Officer Laura Harpham tells us: ‘It is an exciting time to be joining the project. As focus on the environmental goods which farming delivers for the landscape, wildlife and the public increases, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the work which farmers who are already engages with CFE are doing, and get more people involved.’