Farmers wishing to produce to organic standards in England can now take advantage of new funding opportunities.  Defra has announced the details of its new Countryside Stewardship Scheme, including the organic maintenance and conversion payments.
 
Within the new scheme, only the organic maintenance and conversion options are open to all.  All the other elements of the scheme are competitive, with farmers competing against each-other for agreements.
 
Liz Bowles, Head of Farming at the Soil Association commented, “There has been no funding available for new entries into organic farming since autumn 2014. The Soil Association has been working with policy makers to ensure that improvements to organic payments are recognised. We are pleased that this work has paid off and the Countryside Stewardship Scheme now offers renewed support to organic farmers. The scheme replaces the Organic Entry Level Stewardship, and organic maintenance and conversion options have priority.”
 
Bowles said the new funding opportunities are clear recognition of the environmental benefits of organic farming, and added that these payments could make conversion more viable. The return to growth of the UK organic sector in recent years stands in stark contrast to the falling organic area in the country.

On Tuesday, figures released by the UK government showed that the area of land under organic production dropped off by 8.5 percent between 2013 and 2014. Scotland’s organic area now stands at 549,000 hectares, or 3.2 percent of agricultural land. Land under organic conversion also continued to decline.

Cereals, vegetable production and ‘other land uses’ led the decline in Scotland, meaning that pastureland now accounts for 93 percent of the country’s organic area. Overall, there has been a 39 percent decline in the organic area, since its peak in 2008.

On Wednesday, Soil Association’s Liz Bowles added, “Farming organically not only attracts the organic funding payments, it also gives farmers the automatic entitlement to the ‘greening’ element within the Basic Payment Scheme.  On arable land, being organic will be worth around £120 per ha.
 
“There is no better time to enter conversion, with renewed support and expanding market opportunities. The Soil Association’s 2015 Organic Market Report shows the growth of the UK organic market, bucking the trend of the overall grocery sector and highlighting the demand for organic food. ”
 
Lobbying from organic sector groups secured a number of benefits in the new deal, including:

• The payments available for organic farming are much improved on Defra’s original proposals.
• Confirmation that organic conversion payments will be made for the full 2 year duration of the conversion period, 3 years for permanent crops.
• Improved flexibility in the application process, meaning that farmers will be able to undertake phased conversion to organic production; for example converting one enterprise at a time. 

The new Countryside Stewardship Manual is available here. Guidance on the new scheme is available on the Soil Association website here.