All you need to know… about Entry Level Stewardship
The aim of ELS is to encourage farmers to deliver basic levels of environmental management.
Farmers who enter the ELS scheme receive £30/ha each year across their whole farm (except in extensively grazed upland areas).
To be accepted on the scheme farmers must achieve a target number of points by chosing to undertake a number of enviornmental management schemes. The points target is related to the area of eligible farmland registered on the Rural Land Register.
There are more than 50 options to chose from, including hedgerow management, installing buffer strips and stone wall maintenance. The full list is available from Defra.
To apply to enter ELS, farmers need to fill in a Farm Environmental Record. Once accepted on the scheme, farmers enter five year agreements and receive automatic payments every six months.
For more information about the Entry Level Scheme, visit Defra’s ELS handbook.
You can fill in your ELS form online, where you can also find a step-by-step guide to filling in your form electronically.
FWi Links:
Still have questions about environmental stewardship? Then visit the FWi forums – we have teamed up with ADAS so you can get answers to any query or problem you have with Environmental Stewardship schemes.
