ELMS is a phrase that is being heard more and more in the world of agriculture, but what is it all about?
ELMS stands for Environmental Land Management Scheme, and in layman’s terms, is a future stewardship scheme which will ultimately replace both Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
With BPS due to end in 2027, and payments for the scheme being reduced each year from 2021, many farming businesses will be looking for another source of financial income or support.
ELMS is currently being tested and trialled, which will continue up until 2028. A pilot scheme will be opening in 2021, but the scheme doesn’t fully launch for applications until 2024. Up until this point, CS will still be open for applications each year.
What happens if I’m already in a CS agreement, when ELMS opens?
Your CS agreement will run until its natural end, but Defra are saying that if you would like to terminate the agreement early so that you can join ELMS, you will be able to do so with no penalties.
How will it fit in with Cross Compliance?
ELMS will not be a direct replacement for BPS. No land entitlements will go with the scheme, and it is offered as an ‘alternative income stream’. In addition to this, Cross Compliance won’t feature as a part of ELMS, as it does for BPS, but there will be an expectation that agreement holders/ applicants of ELMS will already be meeting legal regulations.
What will be eligible for payment?
The scheme catchphrase, and it’s main aim, is to pay ‘public money for public goods’.
The scheme is being designed to pay farmers and land managers to enhance the environment and go over and above baseline compliance, and as such ELMS will not pay for any items which are deemed essential to meeting legal obligations or for meeting compliance, e.g. slurry store covers, if these are to be made mandatory.
In total, £2.3 billion of public money has been earmarked to go towards agriculture in England; from this there will be separate grant schemes which may cover infrastructure costs e.g. slurry covers, and the other items not deemed ‘essential’ under the ELM scheme.
What ‘options’ will the scheme include?
ELMS will be split into 3 ‘tiers’, with the aim of keeping the tiers fluid, so you may be able to apply simultaneously for 2 tiers.
At the moment, the breakdown of each tier is still quite vague, but loosely speaking, here is what each tier will cover:
Tier 1 – largely focused on farmers but will be open to anyone who has legal access to land. Tenants can apply but will need to have a tenancy agreement in place to cover the length of the agreement. It will provide funding for:
- Nutrient management (including manure management)
- Pest management (such as Integrated Pest Management, biological control, and precision/spot spraying pesticide application)
- Livestock management (such as improving feed efficiency of livestock through targeted breeding to reduce ammonia emissions, limiting grazing to avoid compaction and run-off)
- Soil management (such as avoiding cultivating/trafficking on wet soils, soil organic matter content, maintaining water levels in peat soils, contour ploughing, minimum- or no-tillage cultivation)
- Field margins (such as flower-rich/species rich margins/field corners, riparian buffer strips)
- Field cover (such as cover crops, arable rotations, companion cropping, leys)
- Water storage/efficient water use
Tier 2 – Locally targeted environmental improvements, that will cover items such as:
- Tree, shrub and/or hedge planting
- Habitat creation/restoration/management (including woodland, wetlands, freshwater, peatland, heathland, species-rich grassland, coastal habitat, urban green space)
- Instream/river and on-land interventions to mitigate flooding and to manage sediment for water quality
- Species management, for example, introduction, translocation and/or recovery and invasive species prevention/control
- Rights of way, navigation and recreation infrastructure
- Education infrastructure, events and services
- Geodiversity asset (such as limestone pavements) and heritage asset management
Tier 3 – opportunity for carbon offsetting and re-wilding. Large scale restoration and improvement projects through group applications (perhaps something akin to the CS facilitation fund). Funds will go towards:
- Forest and woodland creation/restoration/improvement
- Peatland restoration
- Creation/restoration of coastal habitats such as wetlands and salt marsh
How does it compare to past environmental schemes?
Schemes will be more bespoke than current environmental schemes, and the agreement or land management plan will be available online so that it can be viewed remotely.
If you have ideas for how to enhance or look after the environment on your farm, you should be able to fit this into the scheme without having to choose set options and follow set prescriptions.
There are talks of bringing back advisors, which was an element of past Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) schemes, however under ELMS, there may be chance for independent consultants to get involved, rather than all work being contracted to DEFRA representatives.
For more information on how the scheme is developing, you can sign up to Defra e-alerts or keep checking the GOV.UK website for any updates.
