Farmers face choice in pick-and-mix scheme

The launch of the new simplified wildlife offers under Countryside Stewardship gives farmers an opportunity to sign up to a less complicated form of the scheme, but land managers should still consider whether a full Mid-Tier agreement would be more beneficial.

The government has introduced four new streamlined packages of options, tailored around different farm types, in a bid to open up the scheme to more farmers and landowners.

Farmers have been invited to apply for application packs for either an arable, lowland grazing, mixed farming or upland offer.

Under these wildlife offers, farmers are required to pick from a short pick-and-mix menu of prescribed management options.

The most significant point in favour of the simplified offers is that they are non-competitive, meaning that anyone who puts together an eligible application will have it accepted.

However, it is worth noting that while Mid-Tier CSS is a competitive scheme, to date, the level of uptake has been sufficiently low that over 90 per cent of all applications have been approved by Natural England.

The simplified offers will also be appealing to farmers who can’t face trawling through multiple guidance booklets, as the agreements can be put together based on just a handful of management options, without the need to submit photos or additional evidence with the application.

However, the relatively small number of management options available means that the offers are actually quite rigid, which could prove a barrier for some farmers who wish to diversify their on-farm options.

The first stage of looking into an application should be to sit down with members of the team that know the farm inside-out, identify the less productive areas on the holding and look at the options available under these schemes.

There is still the opportunity to combine options to increase revenue under these new offers. There are several option pairings, which if used correctly, can produce a gross margin per hectare better than that of an average yielding wheat crop, as well as many break crops, at today’s prices – an effective strategy for providing de-risked income.

Ultimately, farmers will need to weigh up whether the simplicity of the new simplified offers are more important to them than the increased choice and flexibility provided by a standard Mid-Tier agreement.

The deadline for applications under the Higher-Tier, Mid-Tier or the new wildlife offers of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme is July 31, but land managers must request an application pack before May 31.

James Turner, farming consultant, Strutt & Parker