May. 15 2024
Source Page: CS, ES and SFI option uptake data 2024Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the NFU's report entitled Farming for Britain's Future, published in December 2023, what steps his Department has taken to increase confidence within the agricultural industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2020 we published the Agricultural Transition Plan (ATP), setting out our plan for farmers, allowing them to make business planning decisions with confidence. Since then, we have launched our reforms, aiming to give farmers more choice and ensuring there are offers available for all farm types and locations. This includes the rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and our Innovation and Productivity schemes such as the Farming Investment Fund (FIF).
We also continue to expand and improve our offers in response to farmers’ feedback. Recently, the Government has confirmed farmers will benefit from the improved SFI from July this year, following the announcement by the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay in January. The improved offer includes a 10% increase in the average value of agreements in SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS); a streamlined single application process for farmers to apply for the SFI and CS Mid-Tier; and around 50 new actions that farmers can get paid for.
Furthermore, to aid the transition, and to give farmers confidence in their choices and the best chance of benefiting from our reforms we are also providing support via the Future Farming Resilience Fund. This fund is designed to provide free business support to farmers and land managers in England during the early years of the agricultural transition.
Lastly, on 14 May 2024 we published our Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector, which aims to boost production of fresh produce and reduce reliance on imports. This is backed by our new Horticulture Resilience and Growth Offer, where Defra will look to double to £80m the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses when compared to the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme, which will be replaced from 2026 onwards. We are also unlocking the opportunities of gene editing with £15m investment into Genetic Improvement Networks, helping to boost access to more resilient crop varieties, that require fewer inputs and cut farmer costs.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the proportion of applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive made in the last 12 months in which more than (a) 25%, (b) 50% and (c) 75% of the applicant's holding was focused on uses other than food production.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the last 12 months data shows that the proportion of all applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive by the applicant's holding where they focused on uses other than food production is shown in the table below (this includes land that was not in food production previously and regardless to the status of the application).
Not in Food Production | Proportion Applications |
Between 25% and 50% | 0.24% |
Between 50% and 75% | 0.64% |
Greater than 75% | 3.79% |
On the 26 March we introduced a “25% of your holding limit” on 6 SFI actions, these 6 were actions that were designed to operate in tandem with food production – rather than instead of. The 25% limit still provides farmers with the flexibility to incorporate SFI actions into their farming systems and rotations. The majority of the SFI actions are not limited and enable farmers to produce food sustainably. Very few farmers were putting over 25% of their land into these non-food producing actions, however, we decided to act promptly before this became an issue. Industry and stakeholders worked with us on this – and welcomed the move.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the impacts, whether positive or negative, on biodiversity and nature recovery of the establishment of seaweed farms in coastal waters.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Marine Management Organisation assesses all licence applications for seaweed farms in its jurisdiction, including their potential impacts on the environment and other sea uses, on a case-by-case basis. More generally, research commissioned as part of Defra’s £37m marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme includes considering the services provided by farmed and wild kelp and impacts on the environment and people.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the financial cost to farmers of flooding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March, Defra published its forecasts of Farm Business Income, a measure of profit, for 2023/24. These forecasts reflect changes to price, crop area and yield in 2023, but not the impact of more recent weather events. The results of the 2023/24 Farm Business Survey will be published in autumn 2024.
The recent ‘Balance Sheet Analysis’ publication highlights that average liquidity in the sector has been consistently improving over the latest five years of data and reached a 10-year high in 2022/23. This indicates that farm businesses have been keeping back funds in recent profitable years to help sustain the business in less profitable periods.
It is too early to make definitive conclusions on the impact of more recent weather events on farm profitability. We have no reliable forecasts of yields, largely as spring planting is still underway. Additionally, for many farmers any financial impact that arises will not be felt until later in 2024/25. On this basis we continue to work closely with stakeholders to enhance our monitoring of the wet weather and its impact on farms.
In April, Defra opened the Farming Recovery Fund to offset the financial cost to some of the most impacted farm businesses by providing grants of up to £25,000 for uninsurable flood damage.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on allowing land identified as Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England to be used for food production without financial penalties for farmers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Locally significant historical and archaeological features identified by local authority Historic Environment officers that could potentially benefit from management under environmental land management schemes are placed on the Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (or SHINE).
These irreplaceable features are often only on a part of a parcel and Government does not pay for any action that could cause them damage. Farmers may already be using this land for food production and many of these features are subject to environmental land management scheme actions which either cause no harm or can directly benefit them.
In 2022 we changed the process so that we could allow for the areas containing sensitive heritage features to be separated out from the remaining field area.
We want to ensure that farmers have the maximum opportunities to be able to take part in our schemes and to that end will work with our partners to refine both SHINE data and SFI actions. We also expect to introduce further actions that allow for management of SHINE features under the Sustainable Farming Incentive later in the year.
We will hold a roundtable discussion in due course to address the issues raised.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific, red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within Defra’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) ensure compliance with pesticide regulations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A pesticide may only be placed on the market in GB if the product has been authorised by the GB regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), following a thorough scientific risk assessment, that concludes all safety standards are met. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised. Pesticide authorisations normally set conditions on the use of the pesticide. Pesticide users are also required to have relevant training and for the equipment they use to be tested regularly.
The HSE undertakes compliance and enforcement activities, to ensure that where pesticides are used, they are used safely and in accordance with the law. The supply of professional pesticide products and the use of pesticides in agriculture, horticulture, and parts of the amenity sector is enforced by HSE’s Pesticide Enforcement Officers, following a risk-based approach to compliance established under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.