Natural England is urging farmers and land managers with Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) agreements due to expire on 31 July to renew them as soon as possible, in order to avoid a gap between agreements, and consequently, a gap in payments.
Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme administered by Natural England that provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England to look after features of their land such as historic sites, landscapes, wildlife, water and soil. There are several types of Environmental Stewardship agreements available: Entry Level, Higher Level, Organic Level, and Uplands – designed to support hill farmers in disadvantaged areas. These agreements are hugely significant for the rural heritage and historic environment. Find out more about ES schemes here .
Although large numbers have already renewed their Entry Level Agreements, around 2,600 (52 per cent) of farmers and land managers either submitted their renewal applications after the June 1 deadline, or have yet to return them. Natural England will give as many of the late applicants as possible a start date of August 1 for their new agreements, but there will inevitably be some whose new agreements will not begin until September 1 at the earliest.
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