How nature recovery can generate farm income

Opportunities for farmers to generate revenue from natural capital and the environment will top the agenda at a major autumn conference, held in association with Farmers Weekly.

The Norfolk Landscapes Conference & Exhibition 2024 will bring together farmers, researchers, policymakers, investors and industry to highlight the importance of natural capital and the direction of land and coastal management.

Income streams

Key conference themes will include the economics of environmental change, skills and simplifying funding streams ­– including carbon, biodiversity net gain, and opportunities around landscape-scale nature recovery.

The event is being organised by Norfolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (Fwag), which has partnered with the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, Albanwise Environment, Norfolk County Council and Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Held at the Royal Norfolk Showground, just outside Norwich, the conference takes place on Wednesday, 2 October.

Alongside a host of high-level keynote speakers, it will include an exhibition, engaging seminars and thought-provoking talks.

Farmers Weekly Transition editor Johann Tasker said: “Generating revenue from environmental actions – including biodiversity and nature recovery – is increasingly important as the phase-out of the Basic Payment Scheme [BPS] continues apace.

Plugging the gap

“BPS payments are now half what they were just a few years ago – leaving a substantial hole in farm incomes. Although the Sustainable Farming Incentive can help plug that gap, other opportunities are available – and sometimes more lucrative.”

Sources of revenue include biodiversity net gain, natural capital, carbon farming and investment from multinational corporations keen to demonstrate their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.

The conference will explore all these opportunities and more – including ways farmers can secure additional environmental revenue streams while ensuring that food production remains at the core of their business.

Norfolk Fwag trustee and executive director Clarke Willis MBE says: “This event is a must-attend for landowners, farmers, nature enthusiasts, policymakers – anyone passionate about protecting our environment and wildlife.”

‘Food production and environment go together’

Farming and nature can coexist comfortably and profitably – including in areas where agriculture is a key part of the rural economy, say experts.

“We are keen to demonstrate that good farming and good nature recovery can go hand in hand,” says Eliot Lyne, chief executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

“It is not a case of choosing between nature or food security.”

Good examples include some of Norfolk’s large estates such as Wild Ken Hill and Holkham, says Eliot.

But smaller farms can be profitable too by producing high-quality food while restoring nature, he adds.

“We are seeing many more farmers and landowners looking to do both. It is a generational shift in how farms look and feel.

“It is about good stewardship and doing what is right for the land as well as what is right for the marketplace.”

The transition away from the Basic Payment Scheme has acted as a huge catalyst, says Eliot. “We are landowners ourselves – with 25% of our income from agri-environment schemes. We are facing the same challenges as farmers.”

Local nature recovery benefits farmers

Farm businesses could benefit from local nature recovery strategies (LNRS) working to improve biodiversity in key areas across the country.

Some 48 strategy areas cover the whole of England. Actions are being targeted in locations where they are most needed – and where they provide the best environmental outcomes.

In Norfolk, the LNRS is being used to inform applications for funding from Defra’s Environmental Land Management schemes, supporting Norfolk’s agricultural sector, says Wendy Brooks, head of environment at Norfolk County Council.

This will benefit farmers as well as the wider community.

“It will also help steer opportunities for nature-based solutions such as flood risk management and sequestering carbon through new trees, woodlands and healthier soils.”

Pioneering project makes land more resilient

A Norfolk farmer who reinvented his business to generate revenue from ecosystem services is helping other growers and livestock producers do the same.

Glenn Anderson is project lead at the Wendling Beck exemplar project (WBEP) – a pioneering habitat creation, nature restoration and regenerative farming project, spanning almost 800ha (2,000 acres) north of Dereham.

The project is a collaboration between private landowners, local authorities, environmental NGOs and Anglian Water.

It aims to transform land use for environmental benefit while building community and environmental resilience.

Some marginal land is being taken out of production. But food production is continuing – including via regenerative and pasture-based approaches, with livestock used to manage the landscape rather than wholly intensive cereals.

“As an individual farmer, I am limited in the amount that I can deliver back to nature – just because of the size of my farm and what I can deliver within that landholding,” explains Glenn.

“But by working together collaboratively, we can deliver something much better, much more significant and at a landscape scale.”