Proposals for a voluntary action plan to mitigate the effects of the abolition of compulsory set-aside were outlined when the presidents of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country, Land & Business Association (CLA) met this week.

The plan aims to deliver accessible advice built around three central themes - farmland birds, resource protection and botanical diversity.

The meeting was told the plan would involve a concerted campaign to encourage take-up among farmers as well as the recording of on-farm measures based around those themes taken over an initial five-year period.

Further uptake of Entry Level Stewardship would be a key element of the action plan, with a particular focus on getting a high level of renewals and take-up of a greater range of options within new agreements.

Andrew Clark, the NFU's head of policy services, said the voluntary proposal set out by the NFU and CLA would allow a significantly more creative and flexible approach than the regulatory approach outlined by DEFRA.

Its recent consultation involved a new cross-compliance requirement for arable farmers to leave a percentage of their land out of production.

Following the meeting, CLA president Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: “The industry believes that a voluntary approach would be best for farmers. Many already provide for the environment through careful farm management and this needs to be recognised."

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “It's absolutely vital that we convince the secretary of state that a blanket regulatory approach would be madness when there’s so much that can be achieved by the industry working together.

“A voluntary approach would mean that farmers are encouraged to manage the environment alongside food production.”

DEFRA’s 12-week consultation on proposed changes to standards on cross-compliance was issued in early March. The consultation asks for views on two distinct options for addressing the potential loss of the environmental benefits of set-aside.

Under Option A, developed by Natural England for DEFRA, farmers would be required to manage land for environmental purposes as part of cross-compliance. Under Option B, farmers would be encouraged to undertake measures that would capture the environmental benefits of set-aside and to meet targets to be agreed between the industry and DEFRA.

Topics