Countryside stewardship Flashcards
How many tiers are there in CSS?
2, Mid and Higher
Explain the basics of CSS?
- Parcel based, not whole farm
- Competitive, scored against others nationally
How do you apply?
Apply online for Mid tier application pack.
Some Wildlife offers can also be made online.
What is Higher Tier for?
Land with more complex management requirements, tailored to individual sites.
All woodland grants are higher tier
What other grants does CSS offer?
Hedgerow and boundary Water Capital items. These can be incorporated into Mid & Higher tier or can be standalone.
Why was double funding prevented?
As previously farmers could be paid twice under EFAs for their BPS and CSS for the same activity. Hedgerows can still be included in both as there is no overlap in the management requirements.
What is the main priority of the Mid Tier?
To protect and enhance the natural environment
What grants are available for Mid Tier?
Management options (payments paid every year for 5 years) Capital items (2 year grants for specific works)
You can access Mid Tier grants through 2 routes, what are they?
- Mid Tier - competitive, used for a range of management options and capital grants to help support local environment.
- The Wildlife Offers - non competitive, management options to focus on providing habitat for farm wildlife.
What management options are available for Mid Tier?
- Manage land for the benefit of local wildlife (pollen for insects, nesting and winter feed habitats for birds)
- Support local priority habitats
- Manage flood risk
- Convert and manage land to organic
What grant options are available for Mid Tier?
- Capital grants (eg manage & maintain boundaries (hedges, fences etc)
- Manage water pollution and improve water quality (alternative drinking souses, managing yards to reduce soil erosion etc)
- Water capital grant (need to be in a water quality priority area)
- Organic management conversion
- Choosing Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package
Can you enter the same land for CSS as BPS?
Yes, although no double funding. Some land that is ineligible for BPS may be eligible for CSS (eg ponds and scrub)
What are the four wildlife offers?
- Arable offer
- Lowland grazing offer
- Mixed farming offer
- Upland offer
Tell me about the arable offer?
- Land use must be arable of temporary grassland for the year that you apply
- There are 11 options divided into 3 categories
- Minimum number of options is 3, but must enter at least 3% of your agreement land into the offer. (examples include: nectar flower Mix, Winter bird food, Skylark plots)
Tell me about the lowland grazing offer?
- Must be temporary or permanent grazing.
- Only hedgerows from arable fields can be included.
- There are 7 options divided into 3 categories. Minimum number of options is 2, but must enter at least 3% of your agreement land into the offer.
Tell me about the upland offer?
- Must be temporary or permanent grazing.
- All land must be Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA).
- There are 8 options divided into 2 categories.
- Minimum number of options is 3.
Tell me about the mixed farming offer?
Must be arable, temporary or permanent grazing.
Only hedgerows from arable fields can be included.
There are 14 options divided into 3 categories.
Minimum number of options is 3, but must enter at least 3% of your agreement land into the offer.
Can you apply for the Wildlife offers online?
Only the arable offer
What is going to replace CSS and BPS?
Environmental Land Management System (ELMs)
When will ELMs be introduced?
They are being trailed between 2021 to 2024, with direct payments to farmers gradually being phased out over a 7 year period.
What will ELMs pay farmers for?
Environmental outcomes they deliver, often working in collaboration with other farmers
Tell me about farm clusters?
There is only so much that an individual, acting in isolation, can do on his or her own farm. By working together, helped by a Conservation Advisor, farmers and land managers can work more cohesively together in their locality, enabling them to collectively deliver greater benefits for soil, water and wildlife at a landscape scale. There are lots of examples of this type of approach to landscape scale conservation. Farmer clusters are designed to start life at the farmer level, under the guidance of a lead farmer and a trusted conservation advisor.
The work is often supplemented by existing agri-environment schemes. Several projects have been set up with private sources of funding whereas the majority have applied for the Natural England Facilitation Fund.
What does the facilitator fund cover?
Deliver landscape-scale enviornmental benefits over a three year period.
Fund supports people and organisations that bring farmers, foresters, and other land managers together to improve the local natural environment at a landscape scale. Funding will be awarded to successful applications through a competitive process.
What is the role of the facilitator?
- Develop cooperation amongst these land managers;
- Agree with the group members the CS priorities
- Help the group members interpret the CS statements of priorities and associated guidance so that they submit individual but complementary CS applications for land management and capital items or apply for adjustments to existing Environmental Stewardship or English Woodland Grant agreements where the regulations permit
- Where these applications are made, endorse these to show that they are consistent with the group’s agreed objectives
