Category: Policy & Business

Farming Summit

The second ‘farm-to-fork’ summit took place in Downing Street on the 14th May.  This saw a number of policy annoucements made to coincide with the meeting.

A summary of the main initiatives is set out below.  More details on a number of these are provided in seperate articles;

  • a long-term guarantee on numbers under the Seasonal Workers Scheme (see additional article)
  • a ‘Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector‘ (see additional article in Arable section).  This includes a replacement for the old EU ‘Producer Organisation’ Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme, with increased funding
  • the publication of the first Food Security Index for the UK (see additional article)
  • a fund of £3m  to support new and mobile small abattoirs – building on the previous Small Abattoir Fund
  • assistance to help agriculture cope with the recent wet weather.  This includes relaxing the rules for agri-environment schemes (see separate article).  There is also new funding of £75 for Internal Drainage Boards to help them repair damage to drainage infrastructure from the winter storms and invest in new measures to boost resilience
  • the £15m fund for Food Waste, announced by the Prime Minister at the NFU Conference in January, will open on the 31st May (no details on how this will operate are available yet)
  • An Infrastructure Grant for Housing Laying Hens with a budget of £20m is to be made under the Farming Improvement Fund (see seperate article in Livestock section)
  • the Government will consult on introducing Permitted Development Rights under the Planning Regime for a small-scale single on-farm wind turbine
  • a new Endemic Disease Scheme, worth £72m, will tackle BVD in cattle, PRRS in pigs and a number of different conditions in sheep
  • there will be £15m to fund innovative research into solutions for nutrient management (see seperate article)
  • work on fairness in the food supply chain will continue.  Following regulation of the dairy supply chain (https://abcbooks.co.uk/dairy-contracts-legislation/), similar rules will be brought forward for the egg and fresh produce sectors.  The pig sector is likely to follow in time.  A mandatory system for sheep carcass classification wil also be introduced
  • a Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector (CTFS) will be appointed in the autumn.  This was one of the recemmendations of the Rock Review into farm tenancies in England.  The Commissioner will ensure the Tenancy Code of Practice (https://abcbooks.co.uk/tenancy-code-of-practice/) is being adhered to

More details on the announcements can be found at – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-major-package-of-farming-and-food-sector-support

Nutrient Management Research Grants

Defra has announced funding for projects which will develop innovative solutions to farm nutrient management.  Through the Farming Innovation Programme, £15m will be available through two competition strands;

  • Farming Futures: Nutrient Management Phase 1 – Feasibility – Funding for projects of between £200,000 to £500,000
  • Farming Futures: Nutrient Management Phase 1 – Industrial Research – funding for projects of between £500,000 to £1,000,000

The Farming Innovation Programme, is a partnership with Innovate UK who are part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – the UK’s innovation agency.  Innovate UK deliver the programme, providing funding to those who want to research or develop an innovative solution to a known problem in agriculture.  Funding is grouped under four different themes; this support is via the Farming Futures Research and Development (R & D) Fund which supports work on ‘longer-term’ innovations.  Both competitions will open on 29th May and close at 11am on 24th July, but further guidance has been made available in advance of opening and can be found via https://farminginnovation.ukri.org/

Further to these strands, Innovate UK will run an additional competition, Farming Futures: Nutrient Management Phase 2 – Industrial Research, in Autumn 2024.  This Phase 2 competition will have higher project costs than can be supported through the Phase 1 competition.

 

Wet Weather Adjustments to Schemes

Defra has announced some temporary adjustments to agri-environmental agreements due to the wet weather.  This means that if the bad weather has caused disruptions to farming activities so that agreement requirements cannot be met, Defra is allowing more time to establish some options.  Or it may be possible to defer some activities until later in the year.

The ‘temporary easements and adjustments’ are available for agreements under the SFI, SFI Pilot, Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) and covers the period from 1st October 2023 to 31st July 2024 for agreements that are live now.  The full list of adjustments, including the option/action, current requirement and the temporary adjustment is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wet-weather-temporary-support-for-farmers-in-2024#annex.  The adjustments will apply automatically meaning farmers do not need to submit a request.  However, where farmers do not believe they can meet the aims of the option/action within the temporary adjustment provision or the action/option is not on the list, the RPA will need to be contacted and a Minor and Temporary Adjustment form will need to be completed for CS and ES.  For SFI, the Query Form will need to be used.

It is also advisable to keep evidence, such as farm records showing field operations at land parcel level, associated invoices and photographs in case these are requested.

SFS Delayed: Wales

The commencement of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) in Wales has been delayed by one year.  In a Written Statement, Huw Irranca-Davies, the new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, has announced the SFS Transition Period will now commence from 2026.  Instead, during 2025 there will now be a Sustainable Farming Scheme Preparatory Phase of Activity.  During this phase the intention is for the BPS to be available and an announcement on the BPS ceiling for 2025 will be available ‘in due course’.

The Cabinet Secretary has also announced the ‘new timeframe’ will also allow for a number of other pieces of work to take place including;

  • Discussions with Plaid Cymru and the Ministerial Roundtable to quickly identify areas of agreement to allow time for areas where more work is required
  • Using the Roundtable to find an appropriate payment methodology for the new scheme – recognising the wider benefits farming provides, going beyond income forgone and costs incurred, to recognise social value
  • Undertaking a data confirmation exercise – feedback from farmers will be used to provide an accurate picture of the habitat and tree cover across all farms – the 10% tree cover requirement has been one of the most controversial parts of the SFS to date
  • Working with stakeholders to identify and develop a set of proposals for further Optional and Collaborative Actions with the intention of introducing these as soon as possible.

In terms of direct support for Welsh farmers in 2025 it appears that many of the current schemes will continue.  In addition to the BPS, the Welsh Government has said it expects the Small Grants Scheme to be available.  Furthermore, the Habitat Scheme Wales, which was opened last year as an ‘interim scheme’ between Glastir and the new SFS has been seen as a success and the Cabinet Secretary has said he is ‘exploring giving more farmers the opportunity to access support in 2025’.   In addition, he has announced they are working on a ‘new landscape scale’ scheme which will build on the experience of previous collaboration schemes.

Farming Connect looks set to continue with an emphasis on promoting the ‘benefits and opportunities’ of tree cover and woodland on farms and also continuing support for knowledge transfer.  Similar to this year support for organic farmers is also being considered.

The Written Statement comes amid continued protests from Welsh farmers over the introduction of the new SFS scheme; it remains to be seen if their concerns can be addressed over the coming months.  The full Written Statement can be found at https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-future-farming-wales.

 

Sheep Payments: Scotland

The Scottish Government has announced sheep headage payments are starting to be made to eligible farmers.  As of 10th May, 97% of eligible applications to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSS) 2023 had been processed and more than 1,000 businesses will receive a share in the region of £6.6 million.  The individual animal payment rate for 2023 is £61.38 per animal.  Under the 2022 scheme the payment rate was £61.25.  The increase in payment rate for 2023 is due to a small decrease in eligible animals claimed.

UK Border Controls

On 30th April, the UK Government introduced its next phase of border controls under its ‘Border Target Operating Model’ (BTOM), which was published in August 2023.  This phase builds upon the customs controls, declarations, pre-notifications and health certifications introduced in January for imports from the EU and focuses on implementing documentary and risk-based identity and physical checks at UK Border Control Posts (BCPs) for goods subject to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks from the EU, excluding Ireland.

The key changes are;

  • ‘Medium’ risk products: from a biosecurity perspective will now undergo identity and physical checks, which test for pests and diseases that could impact the safety of our food and harm the UK’s natural environment. Checks involve visual inspections and temperature readings of goods.
  • ‘High’ risk products: will now be checked at the border whereas previously these goods were checked at the destination. These checks will be aimed at identifying public health issues such as salmonella, and build on existing safeguarding measures which identify diseases like African Swine Fever, which is now prevalent in certain European countries and poses a significant risk for UK pig farms.

Separately, the UK Government has also published the BTOM risk categorisations and check rates for imports of live animals, products of animal origin (POAO) and animal by-products (ABPs) from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland to Great Britain.  The inspection rate (percentage of times a product will be subject to identity and physical checks) depends on the risk category to which it is assigned, and is set out as follows:

  • High risk commodities: will be inspected every time the product is imported (inspection rate 100%).
  • Medium risk commodities: will be inspected at a rate between 1% and 30%.
  • Low risk commodities: will not be subject to routine inspection, but they may be subject to non-routine or intelligence-led checks.

Further information on the inspection rates and associated requirements for the full range of products subject to SPS checks is available via; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/risk-categories-for-animal-and-animal-product-imports-to-great-britain/target-operating-model-tom-risk-categories-for-animal-and-animal-product-imports-from-the-eu-to-great-britain

Importantly, checks on products entering Northern Ireland will be subject to the provisions of the Windsor Framework, which de-facto, permit Northern Ireland to continue to be part of the EU Single Market and Customs Union as regards agri-food goods.  Accordingly, none of the additional checks or controls set out in the BTOM apply to imports into Northern Ireland from the EU.

For imports coming in from Ireland (i.e. Republic of Ireland), the Border Control Posts in Wales are under construction and are unlikely to be functional until the spring of 2025.  Accordingly, the implementation of physical checks will be delayed until next year with a date to be confirmed.

In terms of the controls that have been introduced on April 30th, there have been some issues with key systems such as IPAFFS – the system used to manage the import of products subject to SPS controls.  There have also been challenges with the extent of coordination between Defra and the HMRC on issues relating to the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) – the system used to match customs and SPS documentation to a given vehicle.  Whether these are just teething problems or will develop into longer-term issues remains to be seen. 

Overall, it is crucial from a biosecurity perspective for the UK to have a fully-functioning border control system and that the gaps in the system following the UK’s departure from the EU are getting addressed.  That said, such controls necessitate the imposition of friction at the border which means additional costs for businesses when importing from the EU.  This will create some inflationary pressure and will likely lead to less choice for some agri-food products, particularly those supplied by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Seasonal Workers Scheme Extended

The Government has announced that the Seasonal Worker Scheme will be extended for a further five years to 2029.  Visas issued will be at current levels which means 43,000 per year will be available for the horticultural sector with a further 2,000 allocated to poultry.  The industry has generally welcomed the announcement, as it allows for longer-term planning rather than the previous year-by-year decisions.  There has been some criticism that the scheme only addresses seasonal labour issues and there is still a fundamental shortage of permanent labour in the farming and food sectors.  

The announcement was made ahead of the Prime Minister’s now annual Farm-to-Fork summit at Downing Street (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/food-summit/ for details of last year’s gathering).  This year’s meeting is scheduled for the 14th May.

Infrastructure Support: Wales

The Welsh Government has announced it will be opening two schemes to support investment to prevent on-farm pollution from slurry and silage.  Both the Nutrient Management Investment Scheme (NMIS) and the Small Grants – Yard Coverings will open shortly.  In total, there will be £20m available through the schemes, with certain project costs receiving a maximum contribution of 50%; increased from 40% from when the schemes were previously open.

The full details for each scheme are expected shortly, but previously the NMIS supported capital investments in both infrastructure and in equipment and machinery that address the impact of on-farm pollution – the storage of silage, slurry and oil.  Grants of between £12,000 and £50,000 were available.  The Small Grants – Yard Coverings grant previously provided funding, up to a maximum grant of £12,000 and a minimum of £3,000 for equipment that had been pre-identified to separate rainwater and slurry from areas such as livestock feeding and gathering areas, manure storage areas and slurry/silage stores.

The Small Grants – Yard Covering scheme will open from 20th May – 28th June 2024.  The NMIS will open from 15th July until 23rd August.

The package of measures is part of the commitment under the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru, to help farmers comply with The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021.  In response to the prolonged period of wet weather, the new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, recently chaired an ‘Extreme Weather Summit’ with key agricultural partners to discuss its impact on farmers and growers.  He heard of ‘significant issues in relation to slurry storage capacity’.  Anecdotal evidence reports Natural Resources Wales appear to have had a shock at how few farmers are fully compliant with these new regulations.

SFI and Countryside Stewardship Areas

Defra have published data showing the area that had been entered into each Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) action, as at 1st April 2024.  The data set also shows the area in specific Entry Level and Higher-Level Stewardship Schemes, although these are being progressively wound down.

This data covers the 13,900 SFI 2023 agreements, and 3,200 SFI 2022 agreements which were live at that time.  With applications open year-round, the data will always be slightly behind the true figure, but we expect to see the area trends continue upwards as agreement numbers increase.  As of 29th April, 20,000 farmers had applied for an SFI agreement.  A total of just 94,000 hectares is being managed under the six actions which Defra the 25% area cap on (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/sfi-cap/ ).

Of the options which run across all farming systems, 1.6 million hectares of ground is in the Soil Management Planning Standard (SAM1).  For hedgerows, over 124 thousand kilometers are now being managed under SFI and CS.

For CS, there were 34,900 live agreements, up from 32,630 a year earlier.

Arable Land under Environmental Schemes

There is still 284,000 and 211,000 hectares of arable and horticultural land being managed under the SFI 2022 scheme Introductory and Intermediate offer respectively.  These agreements will end in June.

Under both SFI 2023 and CS there is a significant volume of land now being cover cropped.  This data is the clearest evidence yet of the volume of cover cropping taking place in the England.  With payments being made on a combined total of almost 195,000 hectares.  Additionally, 94,000 hectares are managed with companion cropping.

No use of insecticide (IPM4) looked set to be an attractive option for many arable farmers, and this appears to be reality, with 430k hectares due to be managed without insecticides.  This is just over 10% of the English arable area.

There has been significant concern about the volume of ‘food’ production that could be lost in the England, due to the attractiveness of ‘non-productive’ options.  However, the Defra data shows that relatively low levels of arable cropping has moved into such actions.  Under SFI around 124,000 hectares has been placed into land use change options including the rotational legume fallow (NUM3 – 51,000 hectares).  There is also a further 22,000 hectares-worth of increases in the Countryside Stewardship non-productive arable options.

That said, the data represents a snapshot in time, with continued challenges for spring drilling in parts of England there is still significant scope for more land to be placed into these options.  This is likely to be legume fallow, although the area may then fall in future years as the option is rotational and area can be reduced by half.

Grassland under Environmental Schemes

The most immediately noticeable element of the grassland figures is the relatively low uptake of the scheme in the uplands.  This indicates one of two things, either there were limited opportunities to carry out more than is already being delivered under ELS/HLS, or the offer did not provide enough of a financial incentive.  The uplands offer will improve with the 2024 round of SFI.

There was approaching 74,000 hectares of the Moorland Assessment Plan, and just over 13,000 hectares of low input grassland in SDAs.  In addition, 97,000 hectares was being managed under the 2022 scheme.  There are also increases in upland and SDA related CS options, as farms look to bring in more revenue as BPS payments fall or ELS/HLS agreements come to an end.  The total area of farmed LFA land in England is around 1.8m hectares.

For lowland grass, in SFI 26,000 hectares has been taken out of production (IGL1-IGL3).  In terms of productive management, 101,000 hectares has been placed into low input grassland, whilst 98,000 hectares has gone into NUM2 (legumes on improved grassland).

Future increases in area for grassland actions will undoubtedly be seen, especially if farmers become more confident in managing grassland according to the prescriptions of SFI, whilst maintain or enhancing productivity.

SFI 2024

This month (May) we are expecting Defra to publish the Handbook detailing what is required under the SFI 2024 scheme.  We then anticipate a phased rollout of the scheme from this summer.

The full dataset can be found at – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cs-es-and-sfi-option-uptake-data-2024.  This will be an annual publication, and a further update will be extended after 1st April 2025.

Planning Changes

The Planning rules for agriculture in England have been relaxed.  This will make it easier to convert redundant farm buildings into dwellings, or for alternative uses.  It will also allow larger new farm buildings to be erected without full Planning Permission being required.

The changes come following a consultation last summer (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/planning-rules-relaxation/ for details).  They are enacted by ‘The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) Order 2024‘ and apply from 21st May 2024.  In summary, the following changes have been made;

  • New Class Q:  Class Q gives the right to develop farm buildings (modern as well as traditional) into dwellings.  Class Q has been re-written in the new legislation.  The current size restrictions will be loosened and the ‘footprint’ of buildings will be able to be extended in some circumstances.  The conversion rights are extended to buildings that are only in part-agricultural use; those that are being used for diversifications (e.g. storage); and former agricultural buildings no longer on an agricultural unit.  In the original consultation, it was proposed that these rights would be extended to areas such as AONBs and National Parks which have, until now, been excluded from Class Q.  In the event, this has not happened.
  • Extending Class R:  this allows agricultural buildings to be converted into a ‘flexible commercial use’ – storage, distribution, hotels, offices or shops.  The rights are extended to allow for food processing and also leisure uses.  The maximum area that can be convereted under this Class has been raised to 1,000 sq m.
  • Increasing Agricultural Building Sizes:  Class A currently allows farm buildings of up to 1,000 sq m to be erected on holdings of over 5 Ha without a full Planning Application being required.  This is being raised to 1,500 sq m (but the limit for livestock buildings will remain at 1,000 sq m).

The full legislation can be found at – https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/579/contents/made

The original consultation also included a Call for Evidence on other Planning matters, including farm infrastructure, farm diversification and environmental works.  Decisions on any rule changes in these areas are still awaited.