Environmental Land Management Scheme

More evidence of unhelpful policy blight….

Many farmers and landowners are reluctant to commit to Countryside Stewardship (CS) this year because they fear it may restrict their access to rewards for the public good that future support will prioritise.

Stewardship opened for 2019 applications this week, while the new Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms) will not open to all until 2025.

Savills’ estate and farming team advises on the management of more than 400,000ha of UK farmland. Research among the team suggests that CS uptake may be held back by uncertainty over the future environmental payments landscape.

Two-thirds of the firm’s farm and land advisers staff judged that clients who were currently not in schemes were waiting to see what the new Elms involves rather than applying to CS now.

The remaining third said clients were minded to apply to current schemes in order to offset the loss of direct payments from 2021 onwards.

Farms and estates already in environmental stewardship schemes were minded to take advantage of opportunities to renew or extend their agreements, said more than four in five advisers.