Farmers and landowners wanting to enter their land into a Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement have been given an extension until 31st August 2020 to submit an application. In order to avail of the extension, applicants must inform Natural England prior to the original deadline of 31st July 2020 and must be in receipt of their application pack.
The scheme provides opportunities to claim an area-based payment which is paid per hectare of land entered into the scheme in return for implementing environmental management measures. The scheme operates on a points based system and the applicant chooses a range of environmental management options which suit their farming system. The applicant must also ensure that the chosen options fit around any Basic Payment Scheme Greening rules such as Ecological Focus Areas (EFA’s).
Along with the area-based payment, there are options to claim additional capital grant funding under the scheme. For applicants within a former Catchment Sensitive Farming area, this also encompasses Water Capital Grants for items such as fencing, concreting yards and covering yards, to name a few.
For more information or assistance with completing a Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier application, you can contact me on: e-mail: yvonne@daviesrural.co.uk. or 07792761168.
