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Abolishing direct payments completely will force farmers in England to quit the industry, Labour’s Shadow Defra Secretary Luke Pollard has warned.

Defra’s new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will not help farmers prepare for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, a coalition of green groups has warned.

The NFU has set out proposals for how the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme should work, after industry raised concerns about Defra’s ‘lacklustre’ plans.

Asking farmers to build on their progress and go even further to protect the countryside is the right thing to do, but they must be given as much support as possible from Government to get the job done, says High Peak MP Robert Largan.

Farming families looking to ‘future-proof’ their businesses have been urged to register for the Prince’s 51AVÊÓƵResilience Programme.

The UK’s ‘Climate Assembly’ has said supporting farmers on their net zero journey should be the number one consideration of Government as it puts together its climate change policy.

Defra is planning to introduce a new ‘stepping stone’ scheme to bridge the gap between BPS and ELMs, but it should not weaken the resolve to introduce a long-term policy, or delay the timetable, says Vicki Hird, head of sustainable farming at Sustain.

Defra is planning a new ‘stepping stone’ scheme to bridge the gap between the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.

The UK can lead the world in tackling our climate and nature emergency by protecting food production standards in law, but sadly, politicians do not seem to recognise this, says Martin Lines, chairman of the Nature Friendly Farming Network.

ELMS might not be shaping up to be the revolutionary scheme promised by Ministers, but my experience tells me reinventing the wheel may not necessarily be a good thing, says Efra committee chairman Neil Parish MP.