1. Farmers and Conservation in the Uplands: The wider context James LePage (Defra)

2. Wider Context – Landmarks
EU Exit Referendum – “once in a lifetime opportunity….” 25 Year Environment Plan Sept 2017 Health and Harmony Consultation Spring 2018 Agriculture Bill – yesterday! A new Environmental Land Management System

3. 25 Year Environment Plan
Introduce a new environmental land management system to incentivise and reward land managers to restore and improve our natural capital and rural heritage. “Public money for public goods” “Natural Capital” underpins our health and economy
Sister strategies:
Industrial Strategy - how to boost productivity
Clean Growth Strategy - policies to mitigate climate change and deliver clean, green growth
Public Goods are things that benefit more than just the recipient and cannot be rewarded by the market alone.
Around £4bn* worth of environmental benefits from farmland, forestry, woodland and trees per year in the UK, including:
By adopting this Plan we will achieve:
1. Clean air.
2. Clean and plentiful water.
3. Thriving plants and wildlife.
4. A reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards such as flooding and drought.
5. Using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently.
6. Enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment.
In addition, we will manage pressures on the environment by:
7. Mitigating and adapting to climate change.
8. Minimising waste.
9. Managing exposure to chemicals.
10. Enhancing biosecurity.

4. 25 Year Environment Plan – example policies for land management
Embedding an ‘environmental net gain’ principle for development
Improving how we manage and incentivise land management inc designing and delivering a new environmental land management system; Introducing new farming rules for water; better use of fertilisers and pesticides
Improving soil health and restoring and protecting our peatlands
Focusing on woodland to maximise its many benefits
Reducing risks from flooding and coastal erosion inc expanding the use of natural flood management solutions
Protecting and recovering nature inc Developing a Nature Recovery providing 500,000 hectares of additional wildlife habitat & more effectively linking existing protected sites and landscapes
Conserving and enhancing natural beauty inc Reviewing National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Helping people improve their health and wellbeing by using green spaces Encouraging children to be close to nature, in and out of school
I’ve picked out the ones most closely linked to ELM as a delivery mechanism

5. Health and Harmony Consultation - Moving away from the CAP
Implementation
Period
CAP
Start of ..
At some point .. UK
formally leaves EU
New agriculture policy begins
Direct Payments will be phased out
Designed to help farmers prepare for change
Leading to the…..
Productivity measures during phase out of DP
Likely start between 2020 and
2022
New environmental land management system
Devolved administrations will have flexibility to target own support

6. ELM is part of wider Defra policy developments:
Farming Excellence, Profitability and Resilience
Supporting rural and upland communities
A new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme
Elements of new policy
Reducing Direct Payments in an ‘agricultural transition’
Animal Health & Welfare

7. Agriculture Bill – Published 12.09.2018
Headlines:
7 year transition period away from Direct Payments - time to adjust
Differential reductions as opposed to flat rate (25% off largest holdings)
De-linking from requirement to farm
New ELM system of “public money for public goods”
The Agriculture Bill sets out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for providing better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding.
Payments enabling investments in new technologies and methods that boost productivity, during the seven year transition period for famers

8. Agriculture Bill
For 2019, Direct Payments will be made on the same basis as now, subject to simplifications where possible.
Direct Payments for 2020 will also be made in much the same way as now.
There will then be an agricultural transition period in England between 2021 and as payments are gradually phased out.
Most farmers will therefore see some reduction to their payments during the transition, although those who receive the highest payments will see bigger reductions initially. This will free up funds to invest in public goods.
Direct Payments during the agricultural transition period up until 2027 will be “delinked” from the requirement to farm the land - to help new entrants get into the sector and give farmers flexibility to plan for the future.
Leaving the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy: a new farming and environmental policy framework
Funds freed up will go into the ELM pilot, planned from 2021.

9. A new environmental land management system

10. Environmental Land Management
Aim: realise long-term environmental gains, contributing to delivery of 25YEP goals
Approach: A New Relationship
Land managers will be contractors, paid for the services they provide to deliver environmental outcomes, in combination with their primary commercial business.
Farmers will no longer be our ‘customers’ or dependent on subsidies based on quantity of land.
Farmers and land managers sell products on the market (like food or timber); and / or providing environmental services and benefits that society relies upon, for which government will pay.

11. Future ELM CAP Direct Payments. 87,000 farmers
Cross Compliance and Greening:
13 Statutory Requirements
11 GAEC
3 crop rule requirement
Ecological Focus Area requirement
Protection of Permanent Pasture
CAP Agri-Environment
c29,600 farmers (inc those still in pre 2014 HLS)
CS Applicants must follow cross compliance and greening and then select from:
Mid Tier (inc 4 wildlife offers)
Higher Tier
Woodland Capital
Hedgerows and Boundaries Capital
Historic Buildings Capital
Facilitation
=230 prescriptive (process based) options and items to select from
+ Application and Claim Forms
Annual start dates
Future ELM
A new contract (agreement) between land managers and society
One baseline (regulation)
One set of guidance
Outcome focussed
Natural Capital Valuation
c88,000 participants by 2028
Whole Land Plan
Rolling application windows
Flexible agreements, with annual re-assessment
Adviser support
Overlap of requirements issues for land managers to juggle
Make it simpler!
Distil the complexity of CAP into a single scheme based on public money only in return for public goods provision (….. and some payments to reduce pollution above the regs and good practice baseline).

12. Environmental Land Management (ELM)
A new ELM scheme could include some or all of the following:
Multi-annual agreements
User-friendly focus
Innovative mechanisms
Capital grants
Funding for collaborative projects
Innovative mechanisms
Health and Harmony: Consulting on the future for food, farming and the environment in a green Brexit.

13. ELM Some ELM Concepts Outcome base payment Natural Capital Valuation
Co-design Test and Trial
Whole Land Plan
Broadly Accessible
Admin Simple
Landscape Scale
Advisor support
Land manager in control
Some ELM Concepts
Tests
Shorter and tend to focus on specific elements or building blocks
Lower risk, involve limited funding, few participants and can be explorative and iterative
Payment by results
25YEP pioneers
Analysing over 100 proposals received from stakeholders
Selection will be based on what specific design ideas will be tested
We will work with stakeholders to develop proposals that offer new or innovative approaches to the delivery of environmental benefits, within the scope of the current legislative framework.
Trials
Provide proof of concept for new ideas, allow us to assess the relative deliverability and value for money of more novel or innovative delivery methods, as well as understand the role they can play in the future system
Could run for various lengths of time and will only be introduced into the national system once we fully understand how they add value

14. Reward continuation of existing public goods provision
What public goods and how might ELM help land managers to deliver more public benefit?
Habitats and species
Carbon storage
Water storage
Culture (landscape and HE) and public access
Reward continuation of existing public goods provision
Diversity and connectivity of habitats
New habs creation (e.g. pollen and nectar strips),
Improved water storage or carbon sequestration
New access provision, education provision, community engagement
Reward enhanced public goods provision
Reduce sediment and chemical pollution,
Reduce air pollution,
Slow water flow or wind erosion risk.
Reward environmental risk reduction (beyond regulation) to protect assets and improve the flow of public goods
ELM participants can apply two broad strategies to optimise natural capital:
Keep agronomically good land farmed but adapt to ensure “keystone resources” are still there for nature, basic landscape structure is retained and environmental risks are reduced. Simple measures to still ‘share’ land with nature (e.g. wildflower and nectar margins); reduce chemical losses; actions that ‘slow the flow.’
For agronomically poor land the ‘productive’ focus switches to public goods as ELM offers a better cost-benefit return, albeit scope for secondary commercial benefits still e.g. high quality, low intensity sheep meat from traditional breeds. Enable natural habitat regeneration, where that might optimise outcomes.
The result should be better optimisation of natural capital and more sustainable, profitable and resilient land based businesses

15. How ELM might contribute a successful land based business
“To be in the black it helps to be green”
ELM participation will complement a conventional food or timber business, or provide an alternative income stream – it’s their choice
ELM shows how ‘un-productive’ land actually produces things of great value (public goods) and rewards them.
ELM helps optimise profit from the land, based on knowledge of its full natural capital potential.
ELM encourages protection the assets (e.g. soil) and enhancement of the services (e.g. pollination) that underpin sustainable food production
ELM simplifies the complexity of current CAP Pillar 1 and 2 schemes
“ELM will make a business more sustainable, resilient and profitable”

16. Timeframe Tests and trials Pilot UK formally leaves the EU
Implementation Period
Agricultural Transition
Fully functioning new ELM system
Tests and trials
Pilot
Environmental Land Management: Tests, Trials and Piloting