Free advice for nature-friendly farmers
EXPERT advice on the changes to farm payments is available to agroecological farmers at a free event in Devon taking place later this month, writes Athwenna Irons.
The Future Farm Resilience Programme session, funded by Defra, will be run by Soil Association farming advisors who will provide business planning advice to help farms adapt to the phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
Any farmer in England who is currently receiving BPS cash can get involved, but there will be a particular focus on how organic and agroecological farmers can secure incentives and cost-savings through nature-friendly farming.
The workshops and one-toone sessions will help lowinput farmers to identify the funding options currently available through Countryside Stewardship, and in the upcoming Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme - intended to fully replace BPS by 2028.
Kate Still, head of farming at the Soil Association, explained: Nature-friendly farming practices are not only set to receive ongoing Government funding, but they can also offer a wide range of costsavings and provide resilience for farmers in the face of a changing climate.
“We are really pleased to be offering free support for farmers to explore not only the available funding opportunities, but also where they may be able to tweak their farming practices to benefit both nature and their bottom line.
“Farmers are facing lots of uncertainty with considerable change taking place, so we are glad to be able to help them navigate the policy changes and opportunities over the next few years.”
She added: “Every farm is different and, as expert advisors working across all types of farming systems, the Soil Association farming team is ideally placed to offer advice that is tailored to each farm’s individual circumstances.”
The Devon workshop is being held on Wednesday, November 23 at Broadclyst Victory Hall in Broadclyst near Exeter (EX5 3DX), running from 5pm until 7pm. For more details and to register your place, please visit the website www.soilassociation.org/ farming-events.