Act fast for a slice of £1.3m budget

Shropshire landowners and farmers have to act fast if they want to get a slice of Natural England's 2008/9 budget of £1.3 million for new Higher Level Stewardship Schemes in the West Midlands.

According to Balfours farm business adviser Trevor Sheard, this will represent an average of £14,000 for annual and capital payments per annum for those signed up, but applications must be in by September - that's just three months.

He explains: "The criteria for entering the scheme has been tightened to focus on specific areas and target features such as farms coming to the end of Countryside Stewardship Schemes, those with SSSIs and those in Catchment Sensitive Areas. It is also a pre-condition on entering an HLS that the farm should have an Entry Level Scheme in place.

He says the increases seen in commodity prices over recent months have given rise to a welcome degree of optimism in our much beleaguered industry; but production costs of commodities have rocketed, in particular fertilisers, feed and fuel.

Trevor admits it might sound strange to advocate environmental schemes at a time when food shortages are being talked about, but he says that with careful planning these schemes can bring together business and environmental benefits and still make a significant contribution to food production - the primary role of farming.

He explains: "The HLS runs for ten years and offers a guaranteed income over that period. If the farm ticks the boxes which HLS is seeking, the scheme provides a tremendous buffer to the vagaries of the market and is more likely to facilitate wildlife and sporting interests.

"At the end of the day we have to ask what we are in farming for - for many, while profit margins are seriously important, they are not the only factor swaying decisions.

"These factors make it even more important to take a long, hard look at the enterprises on the farm and their individual contribution to overall profitability. Environmental management and objectives should be seen as an enterprise, which can have a significant part to play with its guaranteed income stream."