What you need to know

£20 million for farming and forestry businesses
Farmers, foresters and horticulturalists can apply for grants of up to £25,000 to invest in green projects, new machinery and improvements to animal health and welfare so their businesses can grow in an environmentally and animal friendly way. A new £20 million fund – The Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme – which will help rural businesses increase profits and reduce their impact on the environment has been launched.

New indicators set for 2011 Single Payment Scheme (SPS)
This year the Rural Payments Agency is focusing efforts on processing the more difficult SPS claims at an early stage. This is expected to increase the value of payments made at the beginning of the payment window in December while maintaining the numbers of claimants paid in that month.

Changes to rules on Scrapie
Following the resolution of a lengthy EU court case, Defra has decided to apply more proportionate controls in sheep flocks and goat herds with classical scrapie. Instead of totally or partially killing out these flocks and herds it will restrict and test animals for two years after the detection of the last classical scrapie case. Defra encourages keepers to take action to reduce the likelihood of introducing classical scrapie and, where appropriate, to reduce the likelihood of further cases.

What you may have missed

New Guidance published on Environmental Stewardship
Natural England has published new guidance for prospective Environmental Stewardship (ES) applicants.  Common Land and Shared Grazing is produced as a supplement to Environmental Stewardship handbooks and gives detailed advice on how to apply for Entry Level Stewardship (including Uplands ELS) and Higher Level Stewardship, where common land or shared grazing are a consideration.

Don’t miss the deadline for submitting claims for Capital Grant Scheme
The Capital Grant Scheme offers land managers in priority catchments in England support for improvements or installation of facilities that would benefit water quality by reducing diffuse pollution from agriculture. All agreements for the 2011/12 scheme have now been offered and the deadline for agreement holders to submit claims is 29 February 2012.  The 2012/3 scheme will open on 1 March 2012 with extended coverage across England.

Campaign for Farmed Environment celebrates second birthday
Minister Jim Paice thanked everyone for their support for Campaign for the Farmed Environment as it celebrated its second birthday on 5th November. New figures revealed that farmers have actively placed land the equivalent of around 73,000 football pitches into schemes aimed at protecting the environment.

Latest issue of land management E-newsletter published (PDF)
Land Management Update is Natural England’s regular bi-monthly e-newsletter for organisations that represent the interests of farmers, land managers, agents and others who are interested in land management and agri-environment schemes. To sign up to receive it regularly contact Natural England.

Find out about Defra’s current formal written consultations