Environmental Land Management Scheme – Advice For Farmers and Landowners

The new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) will be the new structure to provide public money to farmers and land managers in return for providing public goods.

Examples of public goods are improving and protecting water and air quality, protection from environmental hazards and mitigating climate change as well as supporting plants, wildlife and heritage. The scheme will be delivered through the following three initiatives:-

Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)

From 2022, the SFI will become available to those in receipt of BPS and will pay for sustainable practice. Sustainable actions will be grouped into packages best suited to varying land types. Those with existing environmental agreements will also be able to apply for SFI. More information on this is expected to be released by June 2021. This will be the lowest tier of ELMS.

Local Nature Recovery

Local nature recovery agreements will be available from 2024 to provide payment for actions which target local environmental priorities. This will be the middle tier of ELMS.

Landscape Recovery

Also available from 2024 will be bespoke landscape recovery projects to support long term changes on a large scale, including rewilding and tree planting, seen as the highest tier of ELMS.

For more information on these and other changes to farming and countryside schemes, please contact our Agricultural Team on 01423 860322.