How Defra’s trials for developing ELM schemes are working

Exmoor National Park Authority and the Exmoor Hill Farming Network have jointly taken part in one of Defra’s national test and trials for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.

Following the Brexit result in 2016, the organisations created Exmoor Ambition: a proposal for sustaining and improving the area’s farmland and countryside once the UK left the EU.

Building on this work, the groups answered the call when Defra was searching for volunteers to trial the ELM scheme during its first stages of development, keen to be part of shaping future farm policy.

See also: Environmental Land Management scheme – what we know so far

Once selected to be involved, 25 farms were put forward for the Exmoor trial, chosen as a cross-section of different holding types and sizes.

These units were also formed in clusters, one on the coast, one in the Avill Valley, and one on the southern fringe, to examine how collaborative projects could work in practice.

Having started at the beginning of 2020, the trial is now about halfway through, with Exmoor due to report back fully to Defra at the beginning of next year, ahead of the national pilot.

Meanwhile, three main topics are being reported to the government as work on them progresses:

• Natural capital and how it can be quantified in a simple, consistent way as a basis for land management plans
• Spacial prioritisation – defining what farmers can deliver on their land that will make big differences for the whole landscape
• Payment levels – how they can be calculated in a fair way and what impact different levels would have on farm businesses and the delivery of environmental targets.

So far, Exmoor has made ground on the first two, with the third set to be a priority for the rest of the year, as well as assessing the staff resources needed for the delivery of ELM schemes.

© Sarah Hailstone

Natural capital accounting

Robert Deane, trials facilitator and rural consultant, said: “We have recorded what natural capital assets are on the farms, how they are distributed across Exmoor, how different farms have different assets and what that would mean for payments and incentives – who would win and who would lose.

“We are working to create maps for spacial prioritisation, with the idea being we can say on this farm these are the things that are the real big hitting benefits that will deliver most public goods, that farmers should be encouraged to deliver and be paid for.”

The natural capital accounting exercise has revealed information on such assets is incomplete and out of date, and a simple way for farmers to record their assets is needed for future land management plans.

It is also difficult to assess some of the intangible benefits of a place like Exmoor that must be rewarded by ELM schemes, such as the spirit of the place, said Mr Deane.

© Oliver Edwards

Game changer

Delivering the trial while working full-time and with limited resources has been a challenge in itself, said Alex Farris, Exmoor National Park Authority conservation manager.

“The scheme is a complete game changer so if there are problems with it we need to flag it up now rather than when businesses are struggling,” he said.

“Organic farmers are asking if they will be rewarded and my feeling is they will be doing a lot for the environment, such as contributing to clean water in the water supply, so the outcomes of that organic farming will be rewarded.

“Tenancies, with the length of terms and the question of who’s managing the land, that’s all going to be complicated and that needs to be fed back to Defra.”

Within the three tiers of ELM participation, Tier 1 better suits individual farmers.

A public body such as the National Park Authority could be the ideal organisation to oversee a large-scale environmental landscape project as required for Tier 2 of ELM schemes, said Mr Farris.

In contrast, Mr Deane believes it’s likely that for Tier 3 Defra will select specific areas and organisations will bid to run the necessary projects, working with farmers and landowners to deliver them.

“Defra has assured ELM will be better than current schemes, less bureaucratic and simpler to apply for, with payments to encourage farmers to deliver public goods and land managers given the flexibility to adapt it to their circumstances,” he said.

See also: ELM Q&A: Farmers question Defra on the detail of the scheme

“Receiving money on a quarterly or monthly basis rather than annually is being considered as a way to help with cash flow.

“However, there’s going to be a hungry period where the BPS reductions are quite a long way down the line, but the new ELM scheme payments haven’t yet started.”