We hope that the festive season has treated you all well and wish you all the best as we head in to 2023.

The past year has been difficult for many and the impacts both nationally and internationally have been far reaching.  For the agricultural sector, the impact on cost of inputs and power has been considerable, and the weather has offered both challenge and reward.  Such upheaval forces us to look at the resilience and sustainability of our enterprises and give consideration to the changes that might need to be made. Despite periods of political hiatus, the agricultural transition continues to move forwards and 2023, as it stands, is to be the last year for the existing BPS claim system, which continues to be reduced, with payments again to be made in two instalments in July and December.  This is also to be the last year that an application can be made to enter the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme, with the window to apply for both Higher and Mid Tier expected to open in early Spring 2023 for agreements that will begin on 01 January 2024.

Progress is being made on the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, the scheme of public money for public goods, through which government will support English farmers going forward. An announcement on this progress is anticipated in February and is expected to include the next standards that will be added to the existing three standards under Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).  For this reason, and to ensure the advice we offer is up to date, we have decided to postpone our January seminar on Integrated Pest Management and Nutrient Management planning to ensure that we know what the delivery of these within the SFI will look like.  We are also expecting an update on the proposed replacement of the Local Nature Recovery element of ELMs with Countryside Stewardship Plus, which is expected to be more flexible and less prescriptive than the existing scheme.

In terms of the offering from the Future Farm Resilience programme, our seminar programme will begin in February focusing on business promotion, with a follow up workshop session demonstrating how to put this in to action.  Our second topic, Natural Capital, will focus on the alternative income opportunities that are currently and in future available, and the workshop follow up with how to prepare and action this on farm.  We are also taking expressions of interest for 1 to 1 farm visits where we spend time on farm with you to look at the impact of the transition on your business, and to look at the opportunities there are under the new schemes and which might be relevant to your business.  You can get in touch with office to express an interest in this on 01983 296244 or info@wightruralhub.co.uk