Target soil and stewardship schemes to bridge BPS gap – Arable Farming
Could adopting new support measures alongside existing stewardship schemes help offset the loss of direct payments? ...
As ongoing cuts to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) start to bite, farmers have been urged to make the most of environmental stewardship options and the new support for soil management coming this year.
Speaking at a meeting of growers organised by Essex-based Farmacy agronomists, farm business consultant Gwilym Jenkins said the loss of direct payments could be largely offset by adopting new support measures available through Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), being rolled out this autumn, alongside existing stewardship measures.
For a hypothetical 200-hectare farm, he estimated BPS income would drop by almost £10,000 to £36,450 this year and fall to nearer £22,470 by 2024; however adopting measures in the SFI could make up much of this.
Intermediate soils standard options, due to be launched soon, could be worth around £8,000, while yet-to-be-launched options for arable land, soil, hedgerow and watercourse management could take total SFI income up to £32,000 by 2024.
Lost income
This was before any additional income from the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS), which would further narrow the gap in lost BPS income, he said.
“There were some considerable changes to the SFI in Defra’s last update, but there are still good opportunities to get back much of the lost BPS through different sources. It’s not all doom and gloom.”
But with Defra aiming to get 70% of farms and farmland into the SFI by 2028 and a limit on the amount of money assigned to the whole Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, Hutchinsons environmental services specialist Hannah Joy recommended ‘getting in early’.
She said: “There are lots of grants and schemes being developed and rolled out over this year and next, with many other changes likely through to 2028. We’ve got a good idea of what’s coming and what farmers will have to do, so it’s worth getting your foot in the door now to make sure your farm is part of that 70%.”
Being in an existing CSS agreement would be the best way to transition across to the new stewardship options being introduced in the Arable and Horticulture Land Standards (AHLS) in ELM, due to be launched in 2024, Miss Joy added.
“Why wait until 2024 if you can start receiving income now for various options in CSS?” The application period for CSS agreements starting January 1, 2023, opened in February and closes at the end of July. The two principal routes into the scheme are the Wildlife Offers and the Mid Tier scheme, both of which could be in high demand, said Ms Joy.
“Mid Tier in particular is a competitive scheme that received a lot of applications last year, so
applications are likely to be looked at closely and may be scored on their ability to meet the scheme’s requirements. It’s really important to think carefully about what you’re applying for.”
Being in the CSS offers a guaranteed income for five years and would be a good route into the AHLS once it was launched, she added. This new scheme will potentially require up to 15% of land to be taken out of production and put into some kind of stewardship option, such as permanent margins or rotational mixes, so it is vital farmers identify suitable areas carefully to maximise environmental and farm business benefits, she said.
“Stewardship won’t replace the best-yielding parts of the farm but that’s not what it’s designed for. Focus on finding measures that will work on those poor-performing or difficult to manage areas.”
Farm productivity
Indeed, while SFI and stewardship income is vital to help offset BPS cuts, growers were urged not to regard it as a ‘tick-box exercise’ to claim payments and instead carefully target any measures to maximise the wider benefits to farm productivity.
Taking lower yielding or loss-making areas, such as awkward field corners or wet headlands, out of production and into stewardship is a good way of improving overall efficiency while accessing alternative income streams.
Digital services specialist James Lane said the multi-layered analysis available within Omnia is a valuable tool for identifying suitable areas. Biomass imagery, soil analysis data, yield maps or cost of production mapping could all help growers make better-informed decisions about where to position proposed stewardship options.
Enhancing the natural health and fertility of soils is central to the new arable and horticultural soils standards being introduced this year, with payments varying from £22/ha at the basic level up to £40/ha for the intermediate options. An advanced level will be launched from next year.
While payments are attractive, adopting any measures that improved soil health and growers’ understanding of soil status on-farm would also have significant benefits to crop productivity, said Ian Robertson, head of soils.
“The more you learn about soils and how they work, the more you know about how best to manage them and what they need in terms of cultivations, fertiliser or other inputs.”
The SFI scheme therefore represents a good opportunity to evaluate all the main soil parameters and improve productivity, he added. Mr Robertson said improving fertiliser use efficiency is particularly pertinent this season given the rise in prices and this is just one area where better knowledge about the physical, biological and chemical properties of soil could deliver tangible benefits.
“For example, average nitrogen use efficiency in the UK is only around 50%, although some farms are achieving up to 80%.”
From the weather and fertiliser timing to interactions between different nutrients, many factors contribute to low fertiliser use efficiency; however poor crop rooting is a key one as it inhibits the ability of crops to access nutrients and water from the soil reservoir.
“So many times the focus is on what is happening above ground, but there is an awful lot going on in the plant material beneath the surface.”
Rooting depth
Just one cubic metre of soil from a typical wheat field contains around 30km of roots, he said. Research has also shown that increasing rooting depth by 1cm allows crops to access an extra 130 tonnes of soil over 1ha, while increasing rooting depth by 5cm accesses an extra 650t.
“The biggest influence on rooting is sowing date, however drainage, soil structure, variety, seed rate, growth regulators and biostimulant use all have an effect too.”
The ability of soil microbes to break down organic matter and cycle nutrients was another critical factor which influenced fertiliser efficiency and crop productivity.
“If soil isn’t performing, it’s often because there’s not the microbial activity. Historically, agriculture has been a top-heavy system, driven by more inputs. Soil biology often got overlooked as it’s hard to see what’s happening and testing can be tricky.”
Organic matter and soil carbon directly influenced microbial activity, he added, but these could be affected by applying fertiliser as every 1kg of artificial nitrogen had the ability to oxidise 16kg of soil carbon.
He advised growers to look carefully at the response to nitrogen from individual crops on their own farm and evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition strategies. Improving nutrient cycling and rooting capacity could reduce the reliance on applied fertiliser. “We still need inputs, but they have to be much better tailored to what the soil needs.”
Mr Robertson urged all growers to get out a spade and inspect soils to better understand the current conditions and identify potential issues. The SFI soils standards would provide a further incentive for soil assessments, management plans and adopting measures to boost organic matter and protect soils.
Additionally, analysis could add useful detail against which to benchmark current soil status and measure improvements.
Email Us