At the moment Higher Level Stewardship agreements and  Entry level Stewardship agreements issued on or after the 1^st January 2007 are provisional agreements.

 

It is possible that the management plans will be withdrawn from the scheme. Anyone with a provisional agreement will have to make the points up which will be lost by the removal of these options.

 

abc123:

At the moment Higher Level Stewardship agreements and  Entry level Stewardship agreements issued on or after the 1^st January 2007 are provisional agreements.

 

It is possible that the management plans will be withdrawn from the scheme. Anyone with a provisional agreement will have to make the points up which will be lost by the removal of these options.

 

Seems like you were dead right! It was confirmed on Friday that this is the case and people aren't happy.

The NFU has reacted angrily to the news that the European Commission has insisted that management plans must be removed from the Environmental Stewardship schemes as it "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 is 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.

 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. 

 Provisional agreements are those entered into since 1 January 2007 

What is likely to be the effect for farmers and smallholders with less that 100 acres who are currently on the ELS?

I think you are fine unless your agreement started this year. Except the new rules will apply when you come to renew.

Isabel is right - the new rules taking the four "management plans" away as an option for ELS points only apply to provisional agreements, signed since 1 Jan 2007 - and older ones when the time comes to renew them.

Another factor that has attracted less comment so far is nitrates. As a condition of getting the new Rural Development Programme for England signed off in Brussels, DEFRA has agreed to enforce the terms of the Nitrates Directive on farmers in NVZs with provisional ELS agreements.

These include a 170kg/ha/year limit on the spreading of livestock manures, limits on the amount of inorganic nitrogen that can be used, prohibition of high trajectory, high pressure slurry spreading and a requirement for detailed record keeping.

This effectively enforces the requirements of the new Nitrates Action Programme, making a mockery of the consultation, which is still ongoing with the industry.

With the removal of management plans and the enforcement of NVZ, ELS is as good as dead in the water for new applicants.

The removal of management plans means that more productive land will need to be moved from agriculture in order to meet the points target. With wheat at £ 135/tonne for Nov 08, and the ELS payment pegged at £ 30/ha. I suspect that many of the farmers who to date haven't joined will now do without.

Well done Defra, ELS is following the same way as HLS. Mind you isn't that always Defra - saying that there is money available but not being able to get to it ?? :-)

Hi there,

Sorry if this is in wrong place (Im new to this) and I wanted to make sure its on any parts of this website which are to do with this and as this section is about changes to ELS/HLS I thought this would be the best place to put it. I am a student studying Environmental science at university and am in serious need of a bit more data for a project I am doing for ECM.  If any of you have a couple of minutes (if that) could you please fill in the answers to the following questions (very small questionnaire)?

1.  What size is your farm in hectares and/or acres?

2. What crops do you grow? Wheat, Barley, Maize, other (please state, e.g. Dairy, Beef, Sheep etc) or none

3. Are you currently involved in an agri-environmental scheme? ELS, HLS, Other (please state)

4. Do you approve of these schemes? Yes, No, Unsure

5. Do you believe these schemes are profitable? Yes, No, Unsure

6. Is your scheme up for renewal in the next 2 years? Yes, No, Unsure

7. Will you be renewing or applying for a scheme? Yes, No, Unsure

 8. Please state any reasons FOR applying; Profit, Environmental reasons, Ease of management, Other (please state).

9. Please state any reasons AGAINST applying/renewing; Unprofitable, Farm is too small, Unsure of advantages, Too many controls/forms, Other (please state).

10. Has the recent rise in cereal prices affected you? Positively, Negatively, Unsure.

 11. Any other comments/suggestions?

 

Many thanks for spending the time to give me your views on this matter it is very much appreciated.

student@mmu:

Do you believe these schemes are profitable?

Profitable for whom?

Hi, whether its proiftable for yourself/farmers.