News

November 2019 – Act now as clocks tick down on new support system

The report into a pilot of results-based payments for agri-environment schemes, hot off the press, makes for fascinating reading.

Published last month by Natural England and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, it outlines the findings into a two-year trial featuring 34 farmers across 230ha.

Farmers, so it proclaims, welcomed the freedom to use their local knowledge and expertise to manage, without being told what to do.

In terms of delivering species-rich hay meadows, habitat for breeding waders, providing winter bird food and resources for pollinators, it concludes there is “considerable potential” to improve the performance of agri-environmental measures, and that those participating were almost universally positive about the results-based approach.

“The more that you put in, the more that you get out,” one said. “It directly rewards for skill, effort and care,” another commented.

So far, so good. But there’s a problem…..

 

Read the full article below……

 

 Article by Anthony Weston Open PDF


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