Mark Spencer, DEFRA Farming Minister has recently (5th January 2023) announced Countryside Stewardship (CS) payments are to rise by an average of 10%. Capital payments will rise by an average of 48%. This is alongside other announcements which aim to make entering and administrating the scheme simpler and fairer. Feedback from farmers has led to […]
Posted on January 9th, 2023 by Ellen Cottrell
Capital grants are new for Countryside Stewardship 2021 and replace the former ‘Water capital grants’ and ‘Hedgerow and Boundary grants’. Whilst many of the options remain the same as in the previous schemes, a new area of grants has been included which aims to improve air quality. What does the grant offer funding for? The […]
Posted on March 17th, 2021 by Ellen Cottrell
Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship is very similar to the old style ELS schemes. It is designed to provide environmental benefits at an on-farm level with a range of options that can be tailored to suit most farming systems. What do Mid-Tier Stewardship schemes fund? Grant funding is available for land management practices which protect and enhance […]
Posted on March 17th, 2021 by Ellen Cottrell On Thursday 12th April Carver Knowles joined forces with Green Farm Seeds to put on a Countryside Stewardship workshop attended by farmers from Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. The evening focused on two important aspects of the scheme, the application process and the establishment and maintenance of the available options. The Government have stated that they will […]
Posted on April 23rd, 2018 by Mike Cluley
On the 15th of January 2018 Natural England launched its new simplified Countryside Stewardship Scheme. The new process is designed to make the scheme more accessible and easier to apply to each individual farming system. They have split the scheme into four categories: Lowland Grazing Uplands Mixed Farming Arable The scheme is non-competitive, meaning […]
Posted on January 19th, 2018 by Julie Newton
Following on from the launch of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) last month we are now able to see how the application process works in terms of physical paperwork and also get to grips with some of the lesser known compulsory scheme requirements. On the face of it, the Mid-Tier application paperwork is very similar […]
Posted on August 13th, 2015 by Mike Cluley
The new Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) is about to be formally launched by Natural England (NE) with applications invited for the Mid and Higher Tiers between the 1st July and 30th September with agreements starting from 1st January 2016. The scheme boosts some 130 management options and 110 capital items to chose from many of which […]
Posted on June 23rd, 2015 by Mike Cluley
Whilst there has been a great deal of information published about the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)and how it will work with Greening this autumn, until now we haven’t heard much about the changes to the other sources of funding that have previously been available through the Common Agricultural Policy. Essentially the Basic Payment Scheme funding […]
Posted on December 15th, 2014 by Andrew Troughton