The increase means more Natural England advisers will be available to help farmers implement practical solutions and apply for grants. It also means the scheme will cover 100% of England’s farmland, up from 40% of its current coverage. With a bigger carrot comes a bigger stick however. Environment Agency inspections on farms in England are also set to increase following a £1.2 million recruitment drive, increasing the number of inspectors by almost 200%. This follows a decision to more proactively enforce the Farming Rules for Water in the long term. In the short term, the rules have been temporarily relaxed. Farmers in England will be able to spread slurry or manure in the autumn providing they have no other alternative and there is no pollution risk. Despite the relaxation of the rules, farming bodies are still concerned the new rules do not recognise the wider benefits of using organic manures sustainably.

FOOD & FARMING

Half of small abattoirs could close
Over half of small and local abattoirs expect to close in the next five years. A survey by National Craft Butchers (NCB) also identified that 56% of owners do not have a succession plan or someone to take over the business. Increased regulation, loss of income through hides and skins, and a lack of education has been blamed by NCB. The decline of small abattoirs could have knock on effects for other sectors. All respondents to the survey offer private kill and cutting and packing services as well as a kill service for multiple species for the same customer. 82% slaughter cattle, pigs, lamb and sheep, with 53% slaughtering horned cattle, 41% slaughtering older cattle and 24% slaughtering game. Without these, many small and rare breed farmers would be unable to get produce to their customers. NCB is calling on the government to “acknowledge the important role of small abattoirs, to ensure urgent regulatory reviews by Defra and the Food Standards Agency are prioritised, to invest in the sector and safeguard it for the future.”

Back new research agency, Defra urged
The Growers' Better Levy Group (GBLG) is calling on Defra to support a new independent research agency. The GBLG is made up of 36 businesses and organisations in the horticulture and potato sectors, crop associations and research organisations. It was rapidly formed after a majority of growers voted against the continuation of AHDB's statutory horticulture and potato levy. “The aim of the group is to ensure a healthy and sustainable UK horticultural industry within which businesses can thrive”, said Martin Emmett, an ornamental grower who is part of GBLG.

In addition to a research agency, the group has asked that key AHDB staff be retained by the industry and that halted projects deemed vital by the sectors must be completed. The AHDB has already stopped work on projects such as export market access, promotional international trade event work, consumer marketing campaigns, and market pricing and insight information. To fund such work, the GBLG proposes the continuation of a small statutory levy. For other agreed programmes of work, the group proposes a voluntary investment levy which the growers would have the ability to vote for by sector on a regular basis.

The Group chair, Phil Pearson, says “The Agency would emulate models that already exist in both New Zealand and Australia. The research and development would be directed by an elected, independent board of representative growers who would decide on research priorities and projects, in consultation with the wider industry, including businesses and grower associations.”

Reprieve on autumn spreading
Farmers in England will be able to spread slurry or manure in the autumn, providing there is no pollution risk, until the end of February 2022. The Environment Agency issued a statement indicating that no enforcement action would be taken against farmers who apply organic manure exceeding the needs of the soil or a growing crop. The intention is to give farmers time to adjust to Rule 1 of the Farming Rules for Water and avoid potential issues with storage. The rules have been in place since 2018 but industry awareness of them remains low. NFU deputy president Stuart Roberts said the rule change was a ‘missed opportunity’ to provide clarity for farmers. He said, “We have made multiple approaches over the past two years urging Defra and the Environment Agency to set achievable objectives to make best use of organic manures, slurries and biowastes – this seems to have been ignored”.

Under the terms of the regulatory position statement, farmers must show that spreading is the only option and conduct inspections to ensure there is no risk of pollution. Even then, applications are not allowed on bare land and farmers will still have to show that applications do not exceed the requirements of a crop for the duration of its growing cycle. There are also conditions around the type of land where spreading will be permitted; fields with a high risk of run-off will be excluded from the reprieve. For more information around the rules, please contact Andrew Wraith.

New guidance for AHA stakeholders
The Tenancy Reform Industry Group (Trig) has published a Code of Good Practice for landlords and tenants. The Code is for those who are looking to undertake works that require the other party’s consent and is designed to make it easier for farmers to adapt their businesses as Basic Payments are phased out. A similar Code was published in 2004 to encourage agri-environment schemes and diversification on tenanted farms. While the new Code contains similar principles to that version, it is now designed to better reflect the types of proposals landlords and tenants are more likely to be entering into in 2021 and beyond. 

Five steps are encouraged:

1. Early consultation

2. Agreeing a timetable

3. Preparing details of the proposal

4. Landlord’s consideration

5. Formal written agreement

The Code also advises what the parties may do if an agreement cannot be reached, advising on provisions within the Agriculture Act 2020 and associated regulations that can be used. It provides tenants with the ability to object to a landlord’s unreasonable refusal but also sets out examples of what might be considered reasonable grounds for consent to be refused. While predominantly centred on the premise of a tenant approaching a landlord for consent, the TFA has stressed the process could easily be inverted for landlords approaching tenants.

POLICY

Learn about the Landscape Recovery scheme
Three information sessions will take place across August and September to provide information on Defra’s new Landscape Recovery scheme. The sessions will take place on:

• Wednesday 18 August, 14:00 – 15:30

•Wednesday 25 August, 8:00 – 9:00

• Tuesday 7 September, 19:00 – 20:30

Landscape Recovery is one of three new environmental land management schemes, the others being Local Nature Recovery and the Sustainable Farming Incentive. At least 10 pilot projects will be launched between 2022 and 2024 before the scheme is scaled up in 2024. The first wave of pilot projects is likely to focus on two themes: restoring England’s native species and restoring England’s streams and rivers. Projects will also be expected to deliver co-benefits in addition to these themes, such as carbon savings.

Winners of nature funding package
The second tranche of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund will see £40 million split between 600 sites. The funding will support the planting of almost a million trees and a range of projects including wetland restoration on the river Avon to a ten-kilometre wildlife corridor between Chester and Ellesmere Port in Cheshire. The largest shares have gone to the National Trust and the RSPB, who have been awarded just under £2 million and £1.8 million respectively for work on upland landscapes and habitat restoration along the river Thames. The funds will be delivered by the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund in conjunction with Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission. 

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL CAPITAL

Additional support to tackle water pollution
Funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) programme will be almost doubled. An additional £17 million will be made available over the next three years, meaning the new annual budget will be £30 million, up from £16.6 million in 2020/21. The increase means the scheme will cover 100% of England’s farmland, up from 40% currently. The extra funding will provide more Natural England advisers to help farmers implement practical solutions to reduce pollution as well as help farmers apply for grants to invest in new equipment and technology. It is believed that the scheme has reduced the number of serious water pollution incidents by almost a fifth and helped farmers access £100 million in grants in the 15 years it has been operational.

Environment Agency inspections on farms in England are also set to increase following a £1.2 million recruitment drive. Regulatory inspector numbers will increase from 28 to 78 following a decision to adopt a more proactive approach for enforcing the Farming Rules for Water. The new recruits must expect “difficult conversations” with farmers to “influence them to change their practice” according to job adverts for the new positions. They must also be prepared to go further and be “willing to undertake regulatory enforcement action, prosecutions and the serving of notices, when needed”.

Pesticide ‘cocktails’ kill more bees
Ready-mixed pesticide ‘cocktails’ exhibit a “synergistic effect” which means they could kill twice as many bees than if used separately. Dr Harry Siviter, from the University of Texas at Austin, explained that "If you have a honeybee colony exposed to one pesticide that kills 10% of the bees and another pesticide that kills another 10%, you would expect, if those effects were additive, for 20% of the bees to be killed,". But according to his analysis of 90 studies, that is not what happens. Instead, a mortality rate of around 30-40% is seen. Dr Siviter added. “We don't continue to monitor pesticides once they're licensed for use, so we're proposing post-licensing observations.”

There is some good news however. A separate study indicates that bees around the world are developing the ability to "clear out" a particularly damaging parasite. The varroa mite lives and feeds on honeybees and larvae and can increase the likelihood of colony collapse. That study, conducted on colonies that survive infestations of the mite, reveals bees are evolving to "repurpose" their behaviour against varroa. Isobel Grindrod, from the University of Salford, said "Their adaptability is really important, and that's why we need to maintain healthy bee colonies - to keep that adaptability - because there will be other, new diseases and pressures in the future."

PROPERTY & DEVELOPMENT 

Project Gigabit to upgrade rural connectivity
The challenge of connecting the UK’s rural communities is a difficult one. If we look at all UK homes, the fibre to connect the first 80% of homes would go round the world five times. The other 20% of homes, those in sparse, rural settings, would require enough fibre to stretch another four times around the world. The £5 billion announced by the government as part of Project Gigabit is to be targeted at remote homes, with the end goal of improving internet access for two million premises.

Since the Phase One Delivery Plan for Project Gigabit was announced in March, much would appear to have been achieved. Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said, “Telecoms suppliers have expanded their commercial rollout plans by more than 5 million premises, many of which are in rural areas.” The government is therefore “increasingly confident of exceeding total gigabit coverage for 85% of UK premises by 2025 and increasing the trajectory towards achieving near universal gigabit coverage as soon as possible.” New details also reveal that 1.85 million additional premises will get access to gigabit speed internet, bringing the current total number of premises in scope for government-funded coverage to 2.2 million. The government has also launched a three year project which will trial passing fibre broadband cables through water mains in order to accelerate the roll out of high speed broadband.

Business & Economy

Code red for humanity
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has set out a stark message ahead of the COP26 event in Glasgow this November. The report says that the world is dangerously close to runaway warming and humans are unequivocally to blame. Change is already unavoidable and global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century irrespective of policy and actions taken. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades. As a result, many changes in the climate system that we are already seeing will become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming. That means increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions, and a rise in the proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost. Many of these changes will be irreversible for centuries or even millennia.

“The report is a code red for humanity," said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, “the alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.” He added “this report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet. If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe. But, as the report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses.”

Although these are messages that many have likely heard before, the size of the study and certainty of the conclusions are not. The sixth Assessment Report from the IPCC is considered to be the most thorough and robust assessment of climate change, being informed by over 14,000 studies as well as being authored by 234 scientists from 66 nations. The first report of this kind was published in 1990 and served as the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The fifth and previous edition, first unveiled in 2013, was instrumental in the creation of the Paris Agreement, the 1.5°C target, and ultimately many of our net zero aspirations. Given the stark and uncompromising message emerging from this latest iteration, it is highly likely to form the foundation of the next wave of climate change policy and be a key point of negotiations in the upcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow.

Despite the severe and unmistakeable messages coming out of the report, there are still some elements of hope and opportunity. Climate change can be limited, but only with “strong and sustained” reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Benefits such as improved air quality would come quickly, but it could still take 20 to 30 years to see global temperatures stabilise.

Seasonal visa scheme proposed
Defra is close to agreeing a new seasonal visa scheme to attract overseas HGV drivers. The logistics industry is in the midst of a labour crisis brought about by the so-called “pingdemic”, which is seeing large numbers of people being told to self-isolate through the NHS covid app. Unsurprisingly, the shortage has not been alleviated by firms offering bonuses and sign-on fees to recruit drivers. Suppliers have warned that gaps on supermarket shelves are likely to continue without government intervention.

Defra officials have since told an emergency meeting of the Food Resilience Industry Forum that a “set of options” are available and a new policy announcement is likely in the coming days. It is believed that the most likely outcome will be a new temporary worker scheme akin to the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. Indeed, Shane Brennan, CEO of the Cold Chain Federation, has called for “a time-limited surge visa scheme, like the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.” He added that “the government has accepted that area of the supply chain needed it. The same principles clearly now apply to the wider industry.” Despite the apparent willingness of Defra to provide just such a surge in numbers, sources within the industry point to a longer running issue of staff shortages within the industry and say measures to tackle the pingdemic should not detract from further attempts to resolve the situation.

OTHER RURAL NEWS

And finally…
Rewilding revives rare varieties
Norfolk lost around 8,000 ponds after the 1950s according to research by University College London. Now, the realisation that it is easier to restore an old pond than to create a new one means these ‘ghost ponds’ are being revived as part of rewilding initiatives on estates. Biodiversity quickly returns and in some cases has revealed plants not seen in the county for decades. In one instance, six plants of the endangered wetland flower grass-poly were found at the edge of an old cattle-watering pond on the Heydon estate in north Norfolk. Seeds can survive for centuries under layers of leaves and mud. Once given water and light, these seeds grow once again.