Please note, the following updates come directly from Defra, and are not written by Land App.
This month, Defra have made the following announcements:
Farming 2050: Growing England’s Future, Farming Recovery Fund payments and Supply Chain Fairness
On Thursday 21 November, Secretary of State Steve Reed attended the Country, Land and Business Association’s (CLA) Conference where, as well as addressing the reforms to Agricultural Property Relief, he confirmed the government’s intention to produce a long-term roadmap, Farming 2050: Growing England’s Future. This will outline how the farming system will boost food security, deliver on environmental objectives, and drive innovation, unlocking delivery across government missions and priorities.
It will enable farmers to tell the government what they need and set the direction to make that happen. They will work with the sector to understand where agriculture needs to be in 25 years’ time and build a long-term plan to achieve that in a way that unlocks the potential of the countryside and farming.
The government are establishing a new way of working with the sector, listening and absorbing information that those in agriculture want the government to hear and encouraging open dialogue allowing for deeper reflection on the issues at hand.
Furthermore, the government have provided £60 million pounds to help farmers affected by the unprecedented flooding earlier this year, with the bulk of these payments already in eligible farmer’s bank accounts.
The government is also advancing work on supply chain fairness, using the “fair dealings” powers in the Agriculture Act 2020 to introduce tailored and proportionate, sector-based regulations, protecting producers and boosting food security in the longer term.
Regulations for the UK pig sector are in the latter stages of development and are expected to be introduced in Parliament in spring 2025. Industry engagement on proposals for eggs and fresh produce regulations is beginning now with regulations to follow over the course of the next two years.
Further information is available on Supply Chain Fairness on the Defra Farming blog.
Integrated Pest Management guidance available
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests, weeds and diseases on your land.
To help farmers, growers and land managers adopt different IPM approaches, Defra have published a new guidance page on GOV.UK, providing practical information to help you increase your knowledge and use of IPM approaches.
The page includes the following:
- IPM aims, principles and short examples of what it means in practice
- tools which can support planning and decision making
- how to be paid to do IPM through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)
- links to further IPM guidance
In collaboration with ADAS, a new IPM series of 14 videos has been launched. This will bring to life the science behind IPM theory and showcase best practice for managing diseases in cereals. The videos will be promoted weekly along with related IPM content from January, and are hosted on the ADAS YouTube channel.
The videos will focus on:
- crop production and plant disease epidemics
- disease control methods
- managing fungicide resistance
- environmental considerations
There is more information available on the Defra Farming Blog.
Farming Resilience Fund: free business advice for your farm
There’s still time to get free business advice for your farm.
The Farming Resilience Fund offers free, tailored business support to help farmers and land managers during the early years of agricultural transition. If you have received direct payments since October 2022, you are eligible and can join the 25,000 farmers and land managers who have received 1-2-1 advice through trusted farming organisations.
While support under the fund is available until March 2025, we advise you to register by December 2024 to ensure your chosen provider has time to deliver high quality business planning support.
For more information on the support available and which organisation can provide free business support in your area, visit: Farming Resilience Fund: free business advice for your farm – GOV.UK
A Commissioner for the tenant farming sector
On 6 November, Minister Daniel Zeichner shared that there will be a commissioner for the tenant farming sector in England.
This role, the first of its kind in England, will address one of the recommendations from the Rock Review, to improve relationships and collaboration between tenant farmers, landowners and advisers.
The commissioner for the tenant farming sector will hold an influential role as both an advocate and a mediator for tenant farmers, landlords and advisers.
The commissioner’s presence seeks to reinforce transparency and trust, encouraging fairness and collaboration across the tenanted sector. The commissioner will be appointed by Defra and will work closely with the Farm Tenancy Forum providing regular reports on the concerns and issues raised to help track industry trends and offer advice on improving practices across the sector.
Hedgerows Consultation
In May 2024, the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 came into force. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been appointed to act as the Regulator.
On the 29 October, the RPA launched a public consultation to seek views on how they propose to approach the implementation of these regulations. The consultation will last for six weeks and will close on 10 December 2024 at 11.45pm.
The regulations were introduced to protect hedgerows on agricultural land as they provide essential habitats and act as a wildlife corridor. Our hedgerows also help slow soil erosion and support crop pollinators which benefit the environment and support farming.
The RPA want to safeguard these crucial habitats and protect biodiversity through the no cutting period and mandatory buffer strips.
They are proposing a fair and proportionate regulatory approach when deciding how the RPA implement civil sanctions. They will offer advice and guidance to farmers and landowners to help them to comply but will apply civil and criminal sanctions for more serious breaches.
Following the consultation, a final version of the statutory guidance document and a summary of the consultation responses will be published.
You can find more information about the Hedgerow management rules in regards to cutting and trimming and buffer strips on GOV.UK.
Get involved – Defra needs your input to improve digital services!
Defra is looking for farmers, growers and land managers to join a Defra Farming and Countryside user research panel to help improve guidance and services on GOV.UK.
There are two projects you can get involved with now.
They will both involve a 1-hour conversation with a user researcher.
- FTF Research: Farming Transformation Fund (FTF) are looking for feedback on obligation checkers
The purpose of this research is to understand the experience of agents using the online eligibility checker as part of their application for an FTF grant (e.g. slurry, water management, calf housing, laying hens housing, adding value, or improving farm productivity).
- Funding applications: Understanding how to reduce the complexity of searching for and applying for funding options that align with the reality of running a farm.
To help us with this, we’d like to speak with farmers and growers to understand how you:
- decide what to do on your land
- schedule what you do
- calculate costs and consider different funding options
- The panel is open to farmers or land managers. If you know any contacts that might want the opportunity to work with Defra on building better services for farmers, feel free to share this link: https://defragroup.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b25JxhOFykUF9Lo?Q_CHL=guidancepage
