It was announced at the Oxford Farming Conference that the rates annual revenue options for Countryside Stewardship had been increased by circa 30%, furthermore, this increase will apply retrospectively to existing agreements.
The aim is to encourage more farmers into apply for the scheme to bridge the gap between declining BPS payments and the start of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and its other counterparts under ELMS.
There has been no detail whether rates for capital works have also been amended.
Whilst most of the options have been increased in rates up to 30%, some have remained the same and some have been reduced, reduced rates will not apply to existing agreements, these will remain at the rate agreed at the time. The following table details the amended rates for some of the most commonly used option, those coloured red will be reduced rates for new agreements.
| Revenue Option | Revenue Option Title | Old Rate | Rate for existing agreements up to 01.01.2022 | Rate for new agreements from 01.01.2023 |
| AB1 | Nectar Flower Mix | £511 | £579 | £579 |
| AB2 | Overwinter Stubble | £84 | £84 | £58 |
| AB8 | Flower rich margins and plots | £539 | £628 | £628 |
| AB9 | Winter bird food | £640 | £640 | £640 |
| AB12 | Supplementary winter feeding for farmland birds | £632 | £657 | £657 |
| AB13 | Brassica fodder crop* | £100 | £100 | N/A* |
| BE3 | Management of hedgerows | £8 | £9 | £9 |
| GS1 | Take field corners and small areas out of management | £365 | £365 | £333 |
| GS2 | Permanent grassland with very low inputs (outside SDAs) | £95 | £132 | £132 |
| GS4 | Legume and herb-rich swards | £309 | £358 | £358 |
| GS5 | Permanent grassland with very low inputs in SDAs | £16 | £71 | £71 |
| HS1 | Maintenance of weatherproof traditional farm buildings | £3.25/m2 | £4.03/m3 | £4.03/m3 |
| SW1 | 4-6m buffer strip on cultivated land | £353 | £419 | £419 |
| SW2 | 4-6m buffer strip on intensive grassland | £170 | £213 | £213 |
| SW4 | 12-24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land | £512 | £578 | £578 |
| SW11 | Riparian management strip | £440 | £480 | £480 |
| WT2 | Buffering in-field ponds and ditches on arable land | £501 | £563 | £563 |
*It is worth noting that option AB13 will no longer be available for new agreements, but where it is already included, it will continue for the length of that agreement.
These increased rates do make Countryside Stewardship a more attractive prospect, especially considering the rates for capital works such as fencing, hedging, gateway re-surfacing and if you are in a high priority area for water quality rates for farmyard concrete renewal, roofing over manure stores, livestock gathering areas and trackways. Furthermore, what has been announced about the Sustainable Farming Incentive to date indicates it will be a high input, low output scheme, and financially it will not support your business in the same way that subsidies have to date.
If you would like to discuss Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier agreements for the forthcoming year, please do not hesitate to contact Ellie Watkins on 07495 006808 or ellie.watkins@ruraladvisor.co.uk we would ask you contact Ellie as soon as possible if you are interested in farmyard capital works as additional work is required to secure support for those works.