SETTING THE AGENDA
T
he pace of agricultural transition has quickened over the last year – and the CLA has been working hard to ensure members are supported and involved as the process develops. Since the UK voted to leave the EU, the CLA has taken a lead role in England and Wales in the development of legislation and policies for this new era. The introduction of the Agriculture Act 2020 signalled a change in pace in England, with the focus shifting from policy development to implementation, and the CLA has been heavily involved. In England, our infl uence started early with the publication of the CLA Land Management Contract in May 2018, setting out how a payment for public goods scheme should be designed to work for farmers, land managers and the environment. It was the first of its kind and has stood the test of time. We still revisit the document to get back to those principles, and it is remarkable how similar the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is to it. The Welsh Government, meanwhile, is bringing forward its own Agriculture Bill in the spring of 2022, which will set out legislation for the new land use policy based on the principle of Sustainable Land Management, known as the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS). It will also set out how Welsh Government will transition and prepare the industry before full roll-out of the SFS from January 2025. The CLA Cymru team is closely involved in the co-design of the scheme and will encourage members to take part in the testing and piloting of the SFS. Susan Twining, CLA Chief Land Use Policy Adviser, says: “Shifting from a system based around direct payments to one that pays for public goods is a good ambition, but it must be done carefully. “The CLA has worked with Defra in developing a range of programmes to support farmers and land managers in the transition, including new grant schemes and advisory programmes.” We are now at a point where new policies in England have launched, although at different times, and many will evolve. We have created a comprehensive digital hub containing member briefings, analysis on the latest policies and schemes, and signposting to more information.
Sustainable Farming Incentive
One of the new schemes is the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), for which all those 38
CLA ANNUAL 2022
38-39 STA-ElmAgri-CLA Annual Review 2022_Land & Business.indd 38
VISIT cla uk/cam .org. paign s/ agricu ltur transit alion
Navigating the transition CLA Chief Land Use Adviser Susan Twining sets out how the CLA continues to help shape the agricultural transition agenda for the benefit of members who currently receive Basic Payments will be eligible for. It is the first of three ELM schemes, to be followed by Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. The government aims for 70% of farmers to have entered the SFI by 2028. The CLA ran a webinar for members on the SFI with Defra, which covered details of other initiatives tiatives that the CLA has been involved volved in, including the Farming g in Protected Landscapess scheme and the Future Farming ming Resilience Fund, and plans for the new Farming g Investment Fund and Animal Health and Welfare e Pathway. You can watch tch this webinar on the CLA website. We e also
ran a series of regional webinars with Defra and we will continue to bring you more updates in 2022. “We have been having meetings with the Rural Payments Agency to see how these new schemes sit alongside the BPS and Countryside Stewardship schemes, and to make sure the existing schemes are working well, as they are still the main sources of Susan. funding for now,” says Sus
ELM tests and trials
Another area the CL CLA has been heavily involved in is ELM tests form part of and trials, which for co-design process. the Defra co-desig on incentives We ran projects o for sustainable ffarming and practices, and one forestry practic on the Wildlife Estates cla.org.uk
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