Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to adapt existing farming subsidy schemes to incentivise the (a) housing of all farmed animals in woodland and (b) planting of woodland in permanent pasture to improve (i) animal welfare, (ii) climate and (iii) biodiversity targets.

Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes include support for establishing and maintaining silvopastoral systems, where trees are planted in pasture to realise their multiple benefits such as enhanced animal welfare, climate change mitigation and supporting biodiversity. Under Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT), land managers can plant and maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare. Land managers will be supported to design their agroforestry in a way that meets their objectives through the Agroforestry Plan (PA4) capital item. There are no restrictions on the species of livestock that can be farmed within in-field agroforestry systems. The animal welfare considerations for accommodation used for farmed animals are set out in The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 with further guidance set out in the relevant species-specific welfare codes of practice.