Harvesting change

Farm earnings from new non-agricultural business are at record levels The Environmental Stewardship Scheme, which pays farmers not just for their produce but for acting as guardians of the countryside, took formal effect this March. It has been described as the biggest change since the 1970s in how agriculture is funded from the public purse. Happily, however, it comes at a time when the UK rural economy is already in far better shape than it was five years ago - and there’s no sign of an end to the diversification prompted by those dark days of crisis.

• Environmental Stewardship can be worth up to £30 a hectare to the farmer at ‘entry level’, rewarding day to day environmental best practice.
• Organic Entry Level offers additional payments for organic farmers.
• Higher Level is for farmers who complete a Farm Environment Plan and follow specific management options, such as hay meadow restoration.

Not that everything’s rosy - and that’s not just farmers’ kneejerk pessimism. Lower prices for cattle, sheep, cereals and potatoes, and the rising cost of oil, actually drove down overall UK farm income last year by more than 5%. But new ventures such as tourism, sports and recreation earned an average of £5,000 per farm - and as much as £50,000 for the couple of thousand farmers who’ve gone furthest down the diversification road. Almost half of all full-time farmers (and more than two-thirds of those in south-east England) have looked to these new forms of business to some degree - which must be seen as something of a success for the government’s Rural Enterprise Scheme. The Farms for the future report, focusing on these very issues, is available from Forum for the Future, 01242 26240, farming@forumforthefuture.org.uk - Roger East

20 June 2005

Roger East