He warned that more change was on the way but said there would be a place for farmers in the future. Elsewhere, Defra announced its intention to introduce legislation that would put a blanket ban on neonicotinoid insecticides.

Twenty-five capital items have been included in a new higher-tier capital grant scheme. It should be noted that this scheme is distinct from the similarly named Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme. In addition to this public funding, a £1 million private fund developed by Soil Association Exchange is now available. The aim is to help decarbonise the supply chain, and payments are as much as £60 per tonne per year, with half being paid upfront.

FOOD & FARMING

Money for cutting farm carbon
Farmers can earn £60 for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent by which they reduce their annual emissions. Half the payment is provided upfront to help the farmers transition their activities to a lower carbon intensity. Those with below-average emissions will also be eligible for maintenance payments, meaning those who have worked proactively to reduce emissions already will not lose out. The Soil Association Exchange has developed the £1 million insetting fund. It does not sell carbon credits. Instead, funds are collected from companies with shared supply chains to pay farmers to reduce scope three emissions. To join the Exchange Market, farmers must complete a baseline assessment and submit a verified emissions reduction plan.

Housing measures introduced for birds
New mandatory housing measures for kept birds have been introduced across the East Riding of Yorkshire, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The order is in response to increasing instances of avian influenza. It applies to keepers of all pet birds, commercial or backyard flocks. These requirements are in addition to measures which have been in force since December under the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone. Housing measures require keepers to:

• House all poultry and captive birds.
• Keep feed and bedding inside.
• Disinfect clothing, footwear, equipment and vehicles before and after contact with birds.
• Keep housing and concrete walkways clean.
• Carry out effective vermin control in areas where poultry and captive birds are kept.
• Make premises unattractive to wild birds (e.g. use bird scarers, foils or streamers).

POLICY

Oxford Farming Conference Summary 2024 – Facing Change, Finding Opportunity
The well-attended Oxford Farming Conference was held last week at the Oxford University Examinations School. From a policy perspective, Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, confirmed the plight of the transition for the UK agriculture sector, as it “stands on the edge of unprecedented global transition” and reiterated that the core of farming is food production. The Minister for Agriculture for Scotland reiterated this view, discussing the importance of the forthcoming food and drink policy for Scotland, whilst the Deputy First Minister for Climate Change and Rural Affairs for Wales and the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland, spoke mainly of their agricultural transition plans. All three ministers from the devolved nations confirmed their stance against a single UK agricultural policy.

Food production remained the key discussion point for the conference, which had the theme “Facing Change, Finding Opportunity”, although discussions around climate change mitigation and nature recovery were equally prevalent. The concept of the importance of food security as national security was widely debated and summed up by the RSPB, who said, “we owe it to the rest of the world to produce what we can here”. Anna Taylor from the Food Foundation backed this up with her pledge to “unlock the potential of British produce in order to nourish the nation” and there was hope that the Food Strategy and Food Act will solidify how this can be done.

Defra, in partnership with Nestle, discussed how to blend revenues from agricultural land and confirmed some positive statistics, such as the fact that 50% of farmers are now in an Environmental Land Management scheme and that 56 projects covering over 200,000 hectares are already under Landscape Recovery schemes.

In terms of innovation, the conference heard about innovation in genetic selection for maize and pig health and JCB’s progress in developing horsepower without diesel or carbon. The highly revered conference debate, held in the Oxford University debating chamber, considered whether “UK agriculture needs more grazing livestock, rather than fewer, to be truly sustained.” Due to admiral efforts on both sides of the debate, the debate was only marginally won in favour of more livestock.

Finally, several farmers presented exceptional case studies, showing how they have individually “enabled change” by overcoming extreme challenges to make things happen. We are already looking forward to next year’s conference, which will focus on the theme of “Growing Resilience”.

A focus on Steve Reed’s Oxford speech
In his speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, Secretary of State Steve Reed made few new announcements. Whilst there were mentions of initiatives to come, such as the 25-year farming roadmap and the veterinary deals promised in the manifesto, no further clarification or details were given. The Secretary of State praised farmers for their resilience and consistency through challenging times, thanking them for feeding the nation, and briefly apologised for “shocking” many with the inheritance tax reforms announced in the Autumn Budget.

There were strong themes of economic prosperity for farmers throughout the speech – with the Secretary of State saying that though he understood that farmers were “not in it for the money”, they deserved to thrive. He said that in the current climate, “farmers didn’t make enough money for the food they produced”. If his government was serious that “food security is national security”, then farming must be recognised as a serious business that needs to turn a reasonable profit. He heralded the “new deal for farmers” as the solution to this – although there is still scant detail on what this deal will actually look like, besides a focus on domestic food procurement for the public sector and improved trade dynamics with the EU. Steve Reed mentioned the upcoming land-use framework, saying the 25-year farming roadmap would tie in with this.

The Secretary of State announced that the long-awaited Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund would launch in the spring. The fund will offer a total of £43 million to support farmers, growers, and foresters in conducting on-farm research. The aim is to” de-risk" and “drive” practical research to encourage the uptake of new technologies and their real-world application.

Steve Reed closed his speech by warning that change is coming. It won’t be easy, but it will create “a place for every farmer in [the] future.” The tone of the speech suggests that big change is on the horizon for 2025 and the years ahead, but the details of those changes remain to be seen.

The end of emergency pesticide authorisation?
Defra intends to introduce legislation that would put a blanket ban on neonicotinoid insecticides, a vital tool for managing virus yellows in sugar beet. Though banned from general use, neonicotinoids are available under emergency authorisation when the virus incidence forecast is above 65%. Emergency authorisations have been granted for the last four consecutive years as incidence rates soared: in 2024, the forecasted incidence was 83%, though mostly mitigated due to the authorisation of neonicotinoid seed treatment, Cruiser SB.

Defra said that its first policy intention will be to reassess and update the approach to whether emergency authorisation is given in England by publishing guidance on how future decisions on emergency authorisation will be made. The government has also stated that it will “identify and assess potential changes to legislation that would stop emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid products”. It said these plans marked an “important step in securing the long-term health of the environment”. 

The NFU sugar board chair, Michael Sly, said these changes could set a “worrying precedent” and that it was “vital” for Defra to work with the industry to ensure access to the plant protection products needed to grow the sugar beet required to produce 2.21 million tonnes of homegrown British sugar.

Higher-tier capital grants launched
25 capital items have been included in a new higher-tier capital grant scheme, which opened on 2 January. Despite having a name similar to the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme, these grants stand alone. They are designed to complement Countryside Stewardship offers, Environmental Stewardship, Higher Level Stewardship, and Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements. The grants are split between actual cost and fixed cost items. Actual cost items fund a percentage of the cost, for example:

• FMN1, which pays for 100% of the costs associated with the management of geodiversity features 
• LV2, which pays 80% of costs towards livestock handling facilities.

Fixed cost items have capital item payment rates, a set cost per item, unit or metre. Examples include:

• FG11, which pays £212.56 per unit to create deer exclusion plots.
• WN3, which pays £5.72 per metre for ditch and dyke restoration.

Higher-tier capital grants will be open year-round. For more information, please contact Georgina Sweeting in our food and farming team.

Recording requirement for footpaths scrapped
The government has announced that it will be overturning legislation that set a deadline of 2031 for historic footpaths to be registered. Instead, it will give local authorities the ‘required time’ for assessment. The deadline had previously been extended from 1 January 2026 and was set in 2000. The intention was to provide a sufficient period for historic rights of way to be claimed, assessed, and, if relevant, added to local authorities' “definitive map” of rights of way. It is likely the deadline has been removed because The Labour Party’s manifesto committed to “improve access to nature”, and there are over 8,000 historic paths submitted and waiting to be processed.

The response has been mixed. The NFU said that removing the 2031 deadline would mean historic route claims would continue to disrupt farming businesses for many years. This is because, once recorded, the landowner and the local authority are legally responsible for maintaining historic routes. Walking campaigning group, The Ramblers has supported the decision, saying it was a “step forward to making sure everyone can enjoy the benefits of walking in nature” and that the paths would play a critical role in helping people live healthier, happier lives.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL CAPITAL

Protected landscapes legislation to be strengthened
On the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access the Countryside Act 1949, the legislation that led to national parks (NP) and national landscapes (NL, formerly areas of outstanding natural beauty), it has been announced that these areas will have more power to contribute to nature recovery and improve outdoor access.

The “protected landscape duty” will give NPs and NLs a general power of competence, an authority which was given to local councils in 2011 under the Localism Act. This general power of competence allows NP and NL authorities to have the power to do anything that individuals may generally do, so long as it is legal. To explain, an individual may start a business or service – so an NP or NL authority may also do so under a general power of competence. On the other hand, an individual can’t impose taxes – so an NL or NP authority can’t use the general power of competence to do so. This will allow NPs and NLs to act as more commercial entities, allowing them the independence to be more innovative and reduce bureaucratic hurdles within their designations.

The duty will also help foster stronger relationships between NPs, NLs, and public bodies such as water companies. It will encourage public bodies to consider the implications of their work undertaken outside of designation boundaries, which may have a knock-on effect within a protected landscape – for example, within shared water catchments and in areas of shared ecological connectivity. A stronger emphasis will also be placed on public bodies playing their part in delivering better outcomes for nature, water and climate in these areas. This comes as it was found that less than 40% of rivers within national parks have ‘good’ ecological status.

“Remain vigilant” as flood warnings continue
Following heavy rainfall in recent weeks, the Environment Agency has urged people to stay alert as melting snow and saturated flood plains mean flood warnings remain in place. On New Year's Eve, 164 flood warnings and 154 flood alerts were issued. This was followed by days of heavy rainfall and snow in many parts of the country, resulting in around 1,400 properties being flooded between New Year's Eve and 9 January.

Stefan Laeger, Flood Duty manager at the Environment Agency, said the agency would continue to “[take] action to reduce the impact of flooding, issuing flood warnings and supporting those communities affected”, reminding people to check their flood risk and stay updated with environment agency announcements.

In a statement to parliament, Floods Minister Emma Hardy said lessons learned from these floods would be fed into the new flood resilience task force to help inform the development of flood defences in the country. She said the government was “working at pace” to continue protecting people and their homes from flooding, and the £2.4 billion investment in building and maintaining flood defences would support this aim.

Ofwat price review backs environmental improvements
As part of Ofwat’s price review, water companies will invest £24 billion in environmental improvements over five years. While most of this funding will be directed at internal environmental improvement initiatives such as upgrading wastewater treatment works and delivering storm overflow projects, £3 billion will be used to expand the use of nature-based solutions within the national water company network. Examples of how nature-based solutions could be used include:

• Using wetlands to provide natural treatment solutions to reduce pollution within waterways.
• Introducing commitments from all water companies to enhance biodiversity.
• Using nature-based solutions where formally an industrial approach would have been taken.
• Restoring peatland to work towards a zero emissions target of 2050. 
• Managing 30% of water company-owned land, freshwater and sea in Wales for nature by 2030.

Northumbrian Water has been given the largest allocation for nature-based solutions, at £888 million on an individual water company basis. At the other end of the scale, SES was allocated £410,000, and Portsmouth Water was not allocated any money for environmental improvements.

7,000 tonnes of lead to be kept out of the environment
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has submitted a report outlining its final proposals regarding using and selling certain types of lead ammunition, following the initial proposal of a complete ban in 2021. The report recommends a complete ban on large calibre bullets, such as those used for live quarry shooting, and a ban on lead bullets for target shooting to reduce the risk of lead poisoning for both wildlife and humans.

It has been estimated that these proposed restrictions would prevent 7,000 tonnes of lead from entering the environment each year. There are already restrictions on the use of lead shot in wetlands; however, it is hoped that the ban will reduce the risk to wildlife in other areas and increase the amount of game that can be safely consumed and marketed for public consumption.

The British Association For Shooting & Conservation has welcomed the exclusions on restrictions to air guns and target shooting that were initially proposed but said that it was opposed to an outright ban on lead. In its view, a voluntary transition would give both manufacturers and shooters time to adapt – although it said that many shoots were voluntarily lead-free anyway, with their game being sold in supermarkets. They have said they will continue to lobby as these recommendations move along the legislative process.

PROPERTY & DEVELOPMENT

Changes to BNG for small sites are recommended
Eight changes to biodiversity net gain (BNG) at small sites have been proposed to the government. The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) surveyed more than 200 practitioners to inform its report. The recommendations were:

1. A review of the de minimis threshold, with developments of one or two housing units to be excluded.
2. Introducing a tariff system as an alternative to offsite credits.
3. A review of the BNG metric to make it more flexible.
4. A simpler version for sites with low distinctiveness habitats.
5. Clarification of what is meant by a competent person when using the Small Sites Metric.
6. Better pre-occupation planning conditions and post-development auditing.
7. Development of local habitat banks offering affordable, small-sized biodiversity units.
8. More targeted training around the small sites approach.

BUSINESS & economy

2025 cross-sector forecasts revealed
Savills Research has unveiled its 2025 Cross Sector Outlook. Last year, the Outlook correctly predicted that 2024 would mark the bottom of the current real estate cycle. Looking to 2025, improvements are expected across the market with limited supply and availability of prime assets across the residential, commercial, and rural sectors.

In the rural sector, land remains key to a wide range of objectives, from food production and environmental recovery to development and economic growth. Whilst the perception is that the Budget would affect the attractiveness of land as an investment class, it remains a reliable hedge against inflation and will play a crucial role in hitting many policy targets. Despite those Budget announcements, it remains a favourable asset class for tax treatment compared to other asset classes.

OTHER RURAL NEWS

And finally… Genetic editing to make polo faster
Five eight-week-old polo ponies are part of an effort to create faster horses using genetic editing. Born in Argentina at a research centre run by Kheiron Biotech, the foals already have star pedigree. They are all genetically edited versions of Polo Pureza, an award-winning mare. The foals are expected to have Polo Pureza’s agility and temperament but with more speed. This has been achieved by targeting the MSTN gene which is responsible for myostatin production. This protein plays a role in muscle performance, with different gene variants affecting how the host horse performs as a sprinter or endurance runner. The effort may all be for nothing, as the International Federation for Equestrian Sports prohibits gene editing.

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