The Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier agreements have been rolled over for thousands of farmers following several months of campaigning from the NFU.
Defra secretary Emma Reynolds and NFU president Tom Bradshaw had a meeting and confirmed the extension of the scheme, which was due to expire at the end of the year.
The extension means that over 5,000 farmers will be able to continue environmental investment, the NFU said.
“We’re really pleased that Defra has listened and given certainty to so many farmers about the future of their environmental work for the year ahead,” said David Exwood, NFU deputy president. “It recognises the valuable environmental work they have been delivering for many years.
“This result is a culmination of months of campaigning by the NFU. In reality it means that agreement holders will be able to continue delivering everything from wildflower corridors and habitats for farmland birds to nurturing species-rich grassland.”
The NFU campaign included submitting an FOI to establish the number of agreements expiring, writing to the former farming minister to highlight concerns and meeting the new Defra secretary on her first day of the job.
They also had multiple meetings with Defra officials, tabled written questions in parliament and lobbied at the Labour party conference.
“To ensure that farmers can continue to undertake these vital environmental projects as part of profitable, resilient businesses, transparency over budgets and timelines for the rollout of the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme is key,” said Exwood. “We will work with Defra on a long-term, strategic plan for all agri-environment schemes.”
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