All you need to know… about Organic Entry Level Stewardship

The aim of Organic Entry Level Stewardship is to encourage organic farmers to deliver simple environmental management schemes on their farms.
Similar to Entry Level Stewardship, OELS recognises the environmental benefits of organic systems. To enter land into the scheme, it must be farmed organically and registered with an approved Organic Inspection Body.
To be accepted onto the scheme farmers must also achieve a target of 60 points per hectare of organic land by agreeing to undertake a number of environmental management schemes.
The list of schemes includes ditch management (24 points/100m), maintenance of woodland fences (4 points/100m) and implementing soil management plans (3 points/ha).
Farmers who enter OELS receive £60/ha per year for five years. Aid is also available as an OELS payment top-up for farmers who wish to convert conventionally farmed improved land and established top-fruit orchards.
For more information about entering the Organic Entry Level Scheme, visit Defra’s OELS handbook.
FWi links:
Environmental Stewardship homepage
All you need to know… about Entry Level Steardship
All you need to know… about Higher Level Stewardship
Still have questions about environmental stewardship? Then visit the FWi forums – we have teamed up with ADAS so you can get answers to any query or problem you have with Environmental Stewardship schemes.