After a weekend of speculation and uproar, Defra has clarified its position on the future of Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMS). In a statement issued on Monday 26th, the government stated:
“As set out in the Growth Plan, we will be looking at the frameworks for regulation, innovation and investment that impact farmers and land managers, to make sure that our policies are best placed to both boost food production and protect the environment. This includes looking at how best to deliver the Environmental Land Management schemes to see where and how improvements can be made, and we will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure these are designed and delivered in their best interests.
We’re not scrapping the schemes. In light of the pressures farmers are facing as a result of the current global economic situation, including spikes in input costs, it’s only right that we look at how best to deliver the schemes to see where and how improvements can be made.”
It is important to remember that we are only halfway through a long and drawn-out withdrawal from CAP which started in 2018 and ends in 2027. When the initial plans for ELMS were drawn up, nobody could have foreseen the challenges the farming community would be faced with. The war in Ukraine has had a serious impact on both input costs and sale prices and it is important that, as a country, we build schemes that are fit to last and, most importantly, work for farmers.
These schemes have evolved through their lifespan and it is only natural for a new government, including a new Secretary of State, to review how they might improve them. Farming, by its very nature, cannot be quick to change. Adopting new practices takes time and farmers, now more than ever, require certainty that what they’re doing is the right thing and will be beneficial. By making tweaks to the schemes before they’re implemented, we hope that Defra can deliver that.
We’re encouraged to read that government believes “boosting food production and strengthening resilience and sustainability come alongside, not instead of, protecting and enhancing our natural environment”. Farmers are, first and foremost, food producers, but they have huge potential to deliver for our natural environment, as many of them already do. It is now essential that any future policy makes it attractive for them to do so and that means paying them adequately and making the process simple and effective. We will continue to call for a scheme that works for both farmers and the wildlife they support and look forward to the detail in the coming months.