Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's timetable is for announcing future funding arrangements for the Stewardship Scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We will open our improved Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) later this year. We have started inviting farmers and land managers to begin the pre-application process and have published information that sets out what farmers and land managers can do now to help prepare to apply. CSHT will initially roll out in a controlled way by invitation, so everyone gets the right level of support.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to replace the higher level stewardship provision to commoners in the New Forest.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We want to provide these Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders with some certainty and continuity until they can move into the new ELM offer and to provide support so they can continue delivering environmental outcomes on their land. We will provide more information on timelines for rolling out the new CSHT and the reformed SFI offer in due course.
Farmers with an HLS agreement that expired in 2024 were offered a two-year extension to their agreement. This will allow farmers to continue delivering land management practices in HLS agreements without interruption to the funding they receive.
Defra also announced that on the 24 February 2025, that agreement holders under the Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) will see an increase to their payment rates in the near future.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total area of land was in (a) entry-level agreements, (b) mid-tier countryside stewardship agreements, (c) higher tier countryside stewardship agreements and (d) higher-level stewardship schemes in each year since 2022.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Total area of land covered by Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreements:
For Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 453,789
2023 - 513,288
2024 - 603,626
2025 - 574,676
For Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier (hectares) the figures were:
2022 - 459,334
2023 - 567,482
2024 - 660,535
2025 - 594,952
For Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 70,729
2023 - 63,163
2024 - 53,832
2025 - 51,792
For Entry Level plus Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 975,307
2023 - 851,967
2024 - 683,271
2025 - 633,248
For Organic Entry Level plus Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 – 63,240
2023 – 44,548
2024 – 22,874
2025 - 19,736
Please note the following points:
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage peatland restoration on the West Pennine Moors.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities. We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before.
Peatland restoration works across England are carried out by local peatland partnerships, such as Lancashire Peat Partnership who are responsible for managing the peatlands in the West Pennine Moors. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.
Private finance will also be vital if we are to meet our peatland restoration ambitions. To support peatland restoration, the Government is implementing a range of policies that will mobilise private investment. These include working with the IUCN to attract investment through the Peatland Code.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide funding for agroforestry support to include (a) multi-species planting and (b) increased tree planting densities to enable woodland systems suitable for (i) pigs and (ii) poultry.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes allow flexibility for land managers to decide on tree species and densities that suit their objectives, to realise the multiple benefits that trees provide in the farming landscape. Land managers are able to establish and maintain a wide range of eligible woodland and fruit tree species, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eligible-tree-species-elm-agroforestry-action. Land managers can also be paid a species diversity bonus for planting 5 or more species of tree, to help improve the resilience of agroforestry systems.
Our ELM in-field agroforestry offers allow for a range of planting densities. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, land managers can establish and maintain in-field agroforestry systems with an average of 30-130 trees per hectare on low sensitivity land. Our Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offers will pay land managers to maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will extend agroforestry funding to (a) include multiple species and (b) increase tree planting density to help provide an appropriate habitat for (i) pigs and (ii) chickens.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes allow flexibility for land managers to decide on tree species and densities that suit their objectives, to realise the multiple benefits that trees provide in the farming landscape. Land managers are able to establish and maintain a wide range of eligible woodland and fruit tree species, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eligible-tree-species-elm-agroforestry-action. Land managers can also be paid a species diversity bonus for planting 5 or more species of tree, to help improve the resilience of agroforestry systems.
Our ELM in-field agroforestry offers allow for a range of planting densities. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, land managers can establish and maintain in-field agroforestry systems with an average of 30-130 trees per hectare on low sensitivity land. Our Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offers will pay land managers to maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare.
Asked by: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)
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 Table 10 of the technical annex entitled The combined environmental land management offer, published on 19 March 2024, whether graziers grazing (a) cattle, (b) ponies and (c) native breeds at risk on moorland with a grazing density higher than that of designated low grazing areas due to (i) their geomorphology, (ii) climate and (iii) historic management practices are eligible for payments for actions for moorland and upland peat through the Environmental Land Management scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The publication cited has been superseded by the following:
The moorland offer is designed to help deliver our environmental objectives on moorland whilst supporting sustainable food production. Fundamental to sustainable grazing levels on moorland is the level of grazing pressure on that habitat over time. If this is right, then the grazing by preferential livestock (cattle and ponies) gives additional environmental outcomes.
The cattle and pony grazing supplemental actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier are designed to support this and provide tiered payments which reward their level of delivery. They are only eligible with the livestock grazing on moorland actions (UPL1-3) to ensure the benefits of grazing with preferential livestock are not lost. These actions specify a grazing livestock density that cannot be exceeded.
Supplemental actions supporting native breeds as risk on moorland aim to maintain or increase the number of rare native breed grazing livestock. These supplemental actions are only eligible with a base action. In SFI, applicants can choose to undertake a base action which does not limit grazing levels, for example Shepherding livestock on moorland actions (UPL7-UPL10).
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential environmental merits of including Miscanthus as an incentivised crop under SFI 2026.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The publication cited has been superseded by the following:
The moorland offer is designed to help deliver our environmental objectives on moorland whilst supporting sustainable food production. Fundamental to sustainable grazing levels on moorland is the level of grazing pressure on that habitat over time. If this is right, then the grazing by preferential livestock (cattle and ponies) gives additional environmental outcomes.
The cattle and pony grazing supplemental actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier are designed to support this and provide tiered payments which reward their level of delivery. They are only eligible with the livestock grazing on moorland actions (UPL1-3) to ensure the benefits of grazing with preferential livestock are not lost. These actions specify a grazing livestock density that cannot be exceeded.
Supplemental actions supporting native breeds as risk on moorland aim to maintain or increase the number of rare native breed grazing livestock. These supplemental actions are only eligible with a base action. In SFI, applicants can choose to undertake a base action which does not limit grazing levels, for example Shepherding livestock on moorland actions (UPL7-UPL10).
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 expand agroforestry support to include (a) multiple species and (b) increased tree planting density.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes allow flexibility for land managers to decide on tree species and densities that suit their objectives, to realise the multiple benefits that trees provide in the farming landscape. Land managers are able to establish and maintain a wide range of eligible woodland and fruit tree species, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eligible-tree-species-elm-agroforestry-action. Land managers can also be paid a supplement under capital item AF3 (Species diversity bonus supplement) if they plant 5 or more species of tree, to help improve the resilience of agroforestry systems.
There are no restrictions on the species of livestock that can be farmed within in-field agroforestry systems.
Our ELM in-field agroforestry offers allow for a range of planting densities. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, land managers can establish and maintain in-field agroforestry systems with an average of 30-130 trees per hectare on low sensitivity land. Our Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offers will pay land managers to maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare. Above 400 trees per hectare support is available for woodlands via Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier woodland management actions and the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO).
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 help restore peatlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities.
We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.
Private finance will also be vital if we are to meet our peatland restoration ambitions. To support peatland restoration, the Government is implementing a range of policies that will mobilise private investment. These include working with the IUCN to attract investment through the Peatland Code.