answer text |
<p>We are working in partnership with farmers to design our three future schemes that
reward farmers and land managers for producing public goods: The Sustainable Farming
Incentive; Local Nature Recovery; and Landscape Recovery.</p><p> </p><p>The Sustainable
Farming Incentive will pay farmers for actions they take, going beyond regulatory
requirements, to manage their land in an environmentally sustainable way. In 2021
we launched the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot and received over 900 applications.
The first agreements have started and will run until 2024. In 2022 we will start to
roll-out the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme and intend to expand the scheme
over the next 3 years. In December 2021 we published information on the Sustainable
Farming Incentive scheme - including indicative standards and payment rates. We are
also continuing to develop the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway in partnership with
farmers and experts, including surveying 300 farms to understand where animal welfare
can be improved on farm. In 2022 we will start to roll-out core elements of the pathway
and will launch the Annual Health and Welfare Review.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Nature
Recovery scheme will pay for actions that support local nature recovery and deliver
local environmental priorities; making sure the right things are delivered in the
right places. We are currently developing the scheme and plan to make an early version
of the scheme available to a limited number of people in 2023 as part of our plans
for testing and rolling out the scheme. We will then roll out the scheme across the
whole country by the end of 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Landscape Recovery will support the
delivery of landscape and ecosystem recovery through long-term, large-scale projects,
including projects to restore wilder landscapes in places where that's appropriate,
large-scale tree planting and peatland restoration projects. We will pilot Landscape
Recovery between 2022-24 through initiating at least 10 large-scale projects.</p><p>
</p><p>We recently published a summary of what we’re learning from our programme of
test and trials, where more than 3,000 people are leading projects to test ideas and
are being used to develop the schemes.</p><p> </p><p>We have also launched the Farming
Innovation Pathways competition for research and development within UK Research and
Innovation’s Transforming Food Production programme to develop farm-focused innovations.
We increased funding for the programme to £14.5 million due to high demand and quality
research projects across farming sectors; projects started from October 2021.</p><p>
</p><p>We have in addition:</p><ul><li>Launched the Farming in Protected Landscapes
programme of grants.</li><li>Launched the Farming Investment Fund helping farmers
invest in technology.</li><li>Begun offering free business planning advice to potentially
10,000 farmers through 19 bodies.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Throughout this time, we have
been at the agricultural shows, taking part in Q&A sessions with farmers, and
engaging through our regular engagement groups as part of our ongoing dialogue with
farmers and other interested parties.</p>
|
|