NFU anger at removal of management plans from environmental schemes

The NFU has reacted angrily to news that the European Commission has insisted that management plans must be removed from the Environmental Stewardship schemes after Defra announced the go head for its Rural Development Programme England.

NFU President Peter Kendall said: “Obviously this enables the Rural Development Programme to now go ahead but this risks the very spirit of the scheme that was first envisaged by Sir Don Curry.

“The removal of these plans, especially those covering pesticide stewardship and soil management, is deeply regrettable and difficult to believe. This change undermines the very spirit of the scheme and it severely compromises two key industry projects, the Environmental Plan for dairy farming and the Voluntary Initiative” he said.

“Farmers and growers are rightly being challenged to minimise their impact on the environment and as such tens of thousands have taken up this challenge via their Entry Level Scheme agreements, with ELS management plans an integral part of their individual response. ELS management plans have allowed many farms to enter the scheme and now this option is being taken away – it simply defies logic. I am bitterly disappointed the Commission has insisted on this position and we think they are wrong. It is also doubly disappointing that some farmers will risk losing their schemes because of the initial mapping delay at the RPA.”

The NFU has met immediately with Defra, Natural England and FWAG to consider the implications of these changes, to minimise the impact on those with provisional agreements, and to identify ways of capturing the benefit of ELS management plans in the current review of Environmental Stewardship and to do so as soon as possible. “It is vital that Natural England provides the very highest levels of help to farmers affected by these changes and the minimum number of farmers are adversely affected”, added Mr Kendall.

“I will be seeking an early meeting with Defra Ministers to urge them to publicly commit to the principle that ELS is a scheme available to all, or ‘broad and shallow’ as it was first envisaged. I am greatly concerned that the removal of management plans as well as Natural England’s proposals to alter hedgerow management options will move the scheme away from this aim. I am sure we all want the majority of farmers to participate in ELS to tackle the priorities of water quality and biodiversity as well as recognise farming for its vital work of protecting the English landscape,” he said.

Notes to Editors:

1. Natural England estimate that 1800 provisional agreement holders will now find themselves below the necessary 30 point threshold for ELS entry and therefore require further options to be chosen. A further 780 find their safety margin over the 30pt threshold removed. Management plans within ELS are part of virtually all agreements, therefore when the majority of agreement holders come to renew in 2010 and 2011 it is feared that a far larger number will be affected.

2. Natural England has not collected data but the NFU is concerned that dairy and arable sectors will be particularly badly affected. Those disproportionately affected will now struggle to engage in this scheme.

3. The Voluntary Initiative for pesticides will be significantly impacted by this decision. One of its keystone projects promoting sustainable pesticide management encourages farmers to self crop protection, over 11,000 ELS agreements contain crop protection management plans.

4. Further details about the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/rdp07_13/index.htm  

5. Environmental Stewardship is a new agri-environment scheme which provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England who deliver effective environmental management on their land. The Entry Level Scheme is part of this scheme and requires farmers to enter into a 5-year agreement to carry out environmentally sensitive management. http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/els/default.htm  

6. Provisional agreements are those entered into since 1 January 2007

7. Further information on the Nitrate Directive and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones action programme can be found on the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/quality/nitrate/nvz.htm  


 

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