Government has announced that during the first week of December, it injected more than £343 million into the rural economy to benefit over 31,000 farmers, as Environment Secretary Steve Reed called the Governments’ support of farmers “steadfast”.
This includes payments worth £223 million to Countryside Stewardship revenue customers and £74 million to Environmental Stewardship customers, administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
Government also previously said it would provide over £5 billion to the farming budget.
Ministers announced details on how farmers will benefit from improved and optimised farming schemes. They said a “new and improved” Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme will open in 2025, providing new quarterly payments designed to improve farmers’ cashflow and a rolling application window so customers can apply throughout the year.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said: “Our commitment to farmers is steadfast.
“That is why Government is working hard to get money into farmers bank accounts as well as announcing today how farmers can benefit from the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme, with more flexible actions, improved payments to help cashflow and a rolling application window.
“It’s part of our £5 billion farming budget over two years – the largest ever directed at sustainable food production in our country’s history.
“As we set out our Plan for Change, we are focused on supporting our farmers, supporting rural economics growth and boosting Britain’s food security.”
Rural Payments Agency chief executive Paul Caldwell said: “Our farmers are the heartbeat of the nation’s rural economy, and RPA remains focused on supporting them by getting payments into bank accounts as quickly as possible.
“I am very pleased that this December we have been able to inject more funding than ever from environmental schemes into the rural economy.
“This comes at the same time as providing more certainty over the details in Higher Tier offer to enable farmers to see for themselves how it can benefit them.”
