Tenant farmers will be at the heart of the government’s work to grow and support the rural economy thanks to new measures announced last week to support the long-term sustainability of the tenant farming sector.

The measures, announced in response to the independent Rock Review, agree with the review’s key recommendations and include a new Farm Tenancy Forum which will work to consider the unique challenges facing the sector, facilitate more collaborative relationships between landlords and tenants, and help to shape farming policy.

The government will also launch a Call for Evidence this summer on the proposal for a Tenant Farming Commissioner in England, considering the benefits this could bring and how it might work in practice. This builds on the actions we have already taken to help tenant farmers benefit from our Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) and a consultation launched at Budget on potential inheritance tax reforms, in line with the Review recommendations.

See: Government sets out further support for tenant farmers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

New funding for farmers to protect the English landscape

Farmers and landowners will receive funding and support for projects to create new habitats for wildlife, help protected sites, and boost efforts to reach net zero, alongside sustainable food production, the government confirmed last week.

Building on the first round of the scheme launched last year, farmers and land managers are able to bid for a share of £15 million initial development funding, with significantly more investment in the years to come as projects move from development to delivery.

This will help them to collaborate and work in partnership to protect and enhance landscapes in England, delivering environmental benefits on a massive scale while supporting farmers to deliver their world-renowned produce.

The second round of the scheme will support up to 25 projects which will be administered by Natural England and the Environment Agency – the lead delivery partners for the scheme. The projects will be selected based on their environmental and social impact, value for money, and suitability for the scheme. In addition, for the first time, we have introduced a food production criterion which will be used to ensure prospective projects take food production into consideration and mitigate any negative impacts on this where possible.

It will focus on projects of at least 500 hectares which could include landscape scale projects creating and enhancing woodland including temperate rainforest, peatland, nature reserves and protected sites such as ancient woodlands, wetlands, and salt marshes.

See: Landscape Recovery: apply for funding – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)