TFF's ELMS Questions time ?

[Clive]

There has been some debate and question on a few threads recently over eth ELMS proposals

DEFRA has invited the members of TFF to put their questions regarding the ELMS scheme forward and take them to an exclusive interview with David Kennedy ( Director General, food, farming, animal and plant health) head of the ELMS team in Westminster next month. The interview will be filmed and released on here first

I'm not sure how long we have yet but will fit in as many of your questions as possible, please post what you would like me to ask and we will select a cross-section and put them forward


I think its great to see senior DEFRA staff so keen to engage directly with farmers as this so let's get some good question suggestions, please .................

For those not familiar with David Kennedy here is a link to his https://www.gov.uk/government/people/david-kennedy

Video of him speaking at the Oxford Farm Conference earlier this year

 

[Formatted]

How are you going to ensure that ELMS ends up supporting tenant farming and not lining the pockets of landlords as the current BPS system allows?

 

[renewablejohn]

I will start the ball rolling. On behalf of the 16500 English farmers who have been excluded from any kind of support just because we have less than 5ha of eligible land will the government change this so that ALL farmers are eligible for any schemes no matter what size the farm.

 

[Princess Pooper]

How to ensure that farmers are not penalised when one target outcome becomes threatened by another which might actually be more valuable for the environment. E.g. Planned grass margins get overgrown by some bramble and blackthorn in the bottom of the hedge (wet weather making it impossible to get hedge trimmer on). Under current rules an inspector would say 'sorry you are supposed to have 6m grass margin, what you have is now 3m margin and 3m of bramble/thorn which although it is far superior for birds and many insects, you now need to destroy and by the way we are penalising you.' Crazy.

 

[milkloss]

Are farms that have always had many environmental features such as miles of hedges, woodlands and small field sizes going to see as much......if not more.... support than those that ripped out their hedges and farmed out environmental features will get paid to reinstate it?

 

[Princess Pooper]

How to ensure that tenant farmers who may have rolling 3 or 5 year tenancies are able to access the scheme even without landlords permission (even if that is only possible for certain short term options such as pollen and nectar, bird seed etc).

 

[GeorgeK]

A guarantee that land can be reverted back to its previous use if the contract or payments are altered in the future, and that features created by a scheme won't become legally protected and impossible to remove unless implicitly and clearly stated in the contract.

 

[yellow belly]

will There be reform of the agricultural tenancy laws to ensure tenants can apply for all options on the elms
currently land lords have a veto on application for stewardship imposed by the Eu

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

I would like to see a financially attractive option that could be used as a break crop on heavy land. I don't mind having to establish some sort of cover over winter but need to be able to control blackgrass with glyphosate.

 

[Clive]

thanks for replies so far

can you all try phrase your questions exactly as you would like me to ask them please ?

 

[Green oak]

Could all payments be made in August 1st fit cash flow purposes. Same with bps. Thanks.

 

[Goweresque]

Will contracts will have a 'We can change the contract if we change our minds' clause in favour of Defra, like they do now. Contracts should be 100% binding on both parties, not just the farmer. Defra should not be able to amend the contract without the express agreement of the farmer.

 

[deleted user 837354]

I will start the ball rolling. On behalf of the 16500 English farmers who have been excluded from any kind of support just because we have less than 5ha of eligible land will the government change this so that ALL farmers are eligible for any schemes no matter what size the farm.

I can tell you now that will be a solid 'no': Defra is having their funding cut and won't have the man-power to administer all those extra claims.

 

[deleted user 837354]

What is the overall aim of ELMS scheme? What kind of farms or landscapes is it actually aimed at?

What total sum of money will be available in the pool to be paid to farmers?

Will farmers be free to change management on any land parcels entered into scheme once it the scheme term finishes?

 

[Henarar]

Can he assure those of us with farms that have lots of very small fields that are all surrounded by miles of hedges and trees that most people would agree are beneficial for both wildlife and the environment will be paid for such features under the new scheme rather than penalised for having them as we are under some environmental schemes in comparison with farms that have huge fields with no hedges or trees because they have been removed in the past ?

 

[spin cycle]

what is the defra estimate of the decline of agric output following ELMS introduction?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Of the total holdings in the UK, what percentage of farming businesses do you want/expect to apply to enter the scheme and be successful?

 

[E_B]

'Could you please explain the payment mechanism that will be used to determine the value of the environmental features listed for Tier 1? The DEFRA literature mentions free market valuations, including 'tendering' and 'auctions'. Does this mean that farmers will be pitted against each other to underbid for features such as cover crops?'

 

[Hawkes]

As @milkloss said above.

Will those of us maintaining existing miles of hedges and lots of trees be rewarded for that fact, or be reading about all the payments being made for replacing these features? Some were of course initially removed with grant aid, in the days when actual food production was considered important.

 

[Steevo]

Do the public get to determine what they value as "public goods" or is it decided for them by civil servants?