New online guide to ELS

A NEW GUIDE to planning Entry Level Scheme applications has been produced by the Game Conservancy Trust.

The online guide for farmers and landowners offers practical information on how to manage a variety of ELS scheme options to achieve the best conservation and environmental value.

There are a number of areas of particular interest to arable farmers, including information on managing set-aside, over wintered stubbles, field corners and hedgerows.

“Entry Level Stewardship contains a rather bewildering array of options, so it is important to have a thought-out plan with the right options in the right place,” said the GCT‘s Stephen Tapper.

“On our website, we have selected what we think are the best options for a range of farmers, especially with game in mind.”

There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to developing a Stewardship plan, so the Trust recommends farmers base their decision making around five key themes:

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  Think about life cycles – cater for all seasons
  
  
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  Integrate set-aside
  
  
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  Enhance existing features – protect and compliment what is there already
  
  
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  Re-create a patch-work quilt – build a choice of habitats
  
  
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  Create small scale diversity – variety in planting mixtures

The guide is available at www.gct.org.uk, but the Trust also recommends farmers consult DEFRA‘s published handbook, available from www.defra.gov.uk.