The administrative burden that farmers face is likely to be reduced to allow the focus to move towards delivering environmental outcomes and transition to the new ELM Scheme.
Farmers in England are to benefit from a reduced administrative burden next year, as the government plans to end the need to comply with the greening requirements and begin the move towards the new Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMS), which is said to deliver greater benefits for the environment.
The greening requirements for Direct Payments, which have historically delivered little for the environment, as was documented in the European Court of Auditors 2017 Special Report on greening, have required farmers to carry out specified practices in order to qualify for additional payments.
Under government plans to simplify the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and cut red tape faced by farmers during the agricultural transition period, farmers will have a reduced administrative burden and will no longer have to comply with the greening requirements with effect from the 2021 scheme year.
These changes will not affect the overall payment received by each farmer as the money will instead be added to farmers’ entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme.
