CAMPAIGN FOR THE FARMED ENVIRONMENT
INTERIM REPORT (JULY to DECEMBER 2011)
CONTENTS
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 3
2. INTRODUCTION ...... 5
3. PROGRESS AGAINST THE CFE TARGETS ...... 5 3.1 Participation in AES ...... 7 3.2 Key target option uptake in ELS ...... 7 3.3 Option uptake in HLS ...... 8 3.4 Uptake of ELS buffers ...... 8 3.5 Uncropped land ...... 8 3.6 Voluntary management ...... 9 3.7 Remaining targets ...... 9 3.8 Changing attitudes and behaviour ...... 10
4. COMMUNICATIONS ...... 10 4.1 Engaging with the media ...... 11 4.2 E-communications ...... 11 4.3 National Events ...... 11 4.4 Partner and wider industry activities ...... 11 4.5 Local activities ...... 12
5. LOOKING AHEAD ...... 12 5.1 Environmental outcomes ...... 13 5.2 Lessons Learned so far...... 14 5.3 The CFE post June 2012 ...... 14
6. CONCLUSION ...... 14
ANNEX 1 MEMBERSHIP OF THE GOVERNANCE GROUPS ...... 16 ANNEX 2: LIST OF KEY TARGET COUNTIES ...... 18 ANNEX 3: TARGETS ...... 19 ANNEX 4: ONLINE RECORD DATA ...... 21 ANNEX 5: COMMUNICATIONS ...... 23 ANNEX 6: LOCAL ACTIVITY ...... 26 ANNEX 7: LESSONS LEARNED SWOT ANALYSIS ...... 32
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This third interim report highlights progress, emerging issues and challenges from the last six months of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) to December 2011. The report acknowledges two years since the Campaign was launched as the preferred industry option to retain and exceed the environmental benefits formerly provided by set-aside land.
Over the last six months, the CFE has continued to build on its profile, through considered communications activities designed to encourage engagement and overcome barriers that are preventing farmers and land managers from supporting the Campaign. During this period, there has been a change in National Coordinator and a change in contractual arrangements for seven Local Coordinators following the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group, a key national and local partner, entering administration.
The announcements on the proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in October have led to some confusion and hesitation by farmers about entering and/or renewing Entry Level Stewardship (ELS). To clarify the position, the CFE partners published a position statement, which defined the transitional arrangements in place for those in an Environmental Stewardship schemes. The Campaign partners made a conscious decision to encourage farmers and land managers uncertain whether to enter Environmental Stewardship, to adopt Campaign Voluntary Measures as a viable alternative. The partners also wrote to Agriculture Minister, Jim Paice, to ask for further clarification around this matter. The partners received a reply from the Minister in mid- December which contained further clarification that should help to allay many of the concerns farmers may have about entering or renewing ELS.
The Campaign continues to make progress towards the key targets as detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding. The Campaign remains focussed on promoting the target options in ELS and these have increased by 32 percent to a total of 52,339 ha (12,668 ha above the 2009 baseline of 39,671 ha). Most of the national increase in ELS key target options can be attributed to land in CFE key target counties. However, it is unlikely that this target will be met by June 2012. Possible reasons for lack of progress against this target include; poorly focussed initial messaging, slow farmer buy-in to the Campaign and the hiatus between the end of the Land Management Advice Service (LMAS) and the start of the ELS Training and Information Programme (ETIP) meant that many farmers with expiring ELS agreements had chosen their options without the knowledge of how to use the Campaign key target options to best effect. More recently, anecdotal evidence suggest that CAP reform proposals are impacting progress towards this target.
The loss of the EG5 brassica fodder crops followed by overwinter stubble option continues to impact on the ELS figures. However, the Campaign has worked with Natural England to target expiring agreements with EG5 for an ETIP visit to provide advice to farmers about how to replace their CFE EG5 points with other key target ELS options that support the Campaign. The uptake of key options identified in the HLS target continues to increase, however at a slower rate to that seen previously. HLS ‘more of the same’ options have now reached 21,063 ha representing a 151 percent increase from the 2009 baseline. The slowdown in the rate of increase was expected, following a change in policy direction by Natural England to make better use of HLS as opposed to ELS management options. The most recent data for land in voluntary measures were presented in the annual report. The next Defra survey of land managed under the Campaign will be issued in mid-February 2012.
The area of uncropped land, taken from the Defra June 2011 survey, is estimated to be 139,000 ha, 40,000 ha below the final target and 7000 ha below the original baseline, indicating a decline in uncropped land over the course of the Campaign. The target to retain and increase the area of uncropped land is proving to be a challenge.
Further analysis carried out using the results from the Defra February 2011 Survey was published by Defra in November. The extra analysis found that larger farms and arable farms in key target counties within Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) were more likely to have a good understanding
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 3 of the Campaign, as opposed to livestock farms and farms outside of key target counties. This analysis indicates the Campaign has been successful in targeting the right audiences.
The partners at a national and local level have continued to work collaboratively to support the delivery of advisory and communication messages, which are consistent and easy for farmers and managers to understand. New communications tools, such as the Twitter account, have been developed over the last six months and existing tools, including the CFE website and online record for voluntary measures, have been updated. The Campaign has continued to attract unprecedented industry, national and regional media coverage, equating to over £140,000 advertising equivalency value (AEV) for the past six months alone.
The online record form for the cropping year 2010 to 2011 has just been closed with over 350 respondents. This continues to be an important tool to collect complementary evidence on voluntary land management for the Campaign and the form for 2011 to 2012 cropping year will be launched in January. In addition to this, the results for the survey conducted voluntarily by Masstock Farm Consultancy in February 2011, which followed the same structure as the Defra survey, reported that over 10,000 ha of land was managed under Campaign voluntary measures nationally. Masstock will be sending out another survey in February 2012 to assess the same data and produce comparable results.
The Steering Group has commissioned a report to gather the lessons that can be learned from the Campaign so far. This will be used to inform how the CFE might evolve, going forward. It will also become part of the final report in June.
Looking ahead, the governance groups will work collaboratively to develop communications around promoting the voluntary measures, assessing the potential of the CFE to deliver wider regulatory outcomes and developing ideas for what the CFE can offer beyond June 2012. Consistent communications activity and advice in the next six months will be vital to maintain the momentum and success of the CFE up to June 2012.
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2. INTRODUCTION
In July 2009, the CFE was announced as being the preferred option to retain and exceed the environmental benefits provided by former set-aside. The CFE partnership includes the NFU, CLA, FWAG, LEAF, GWCT, AIC, AICC, CAAV, RSPB, Defra and its agencies, Natural England and the Environment Agency. The partners are represented on the CFE governance groups, as detailed in Annex 1.
The CFE has a full time National Coordinator/Programme Manager in position at the NFU Head Quarters in Warwickshire. Since the Annual Report was submitted in July, Corrina Gibbs has left this position and has been replaced by Victoria Hicks.
The Campaign is a national initiative with local personality (delivery) and it was officially launched in November 2009. Local Liaison Groups (LLGs) with their own county priorities have been established in 23 key target arable counties, as shown in Annex 2. These groups cover 75 percent of former set-aside land.
This interim report highlights progress, emerging issues and challenges that have been addressed since July 2011 and looks ahead to what the partnership can deliver in the next six months of the CFE.
3. PROGRESS AGAINST THE CFE TARGETS
Since the introduction of the CFE, the Evidence and Monitoring group has worked closely with Defra to identify and develop a range of surveying methods to best evaluate progress against the Campaign’s targets, as detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This section of the report highlights progress against the Campaign’s targets and the issues around the monitoring and reporting of these targets (Table 1). Following this, each sub-section looks at each target separately, to provide an overview of progress and any issues with monitoring or recording.
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Table 1 Progress against Campaign targets as detailed in the MOU. Target Source Baselin 2012 Interim Latest figure (ha) e target target (ha) (ha) (ha) To help achieve Natural Natural 67 70 67.59 Target expired in England’s target of 70% England percent percent percent March 2011 of farmland within an agri-environment agreement by March 2011 To double the current Natural 39 671 80 000 72 833 52 339 uptake of key target England (Dec 2011) options in ELS
To double the uptake of Natural 8400 16 800 21 063 ‘more of the same’ England (Dec 2011) options in HLS To double the uptake of Natural 4880 9760 8240 (by July 3269 ELS options EE9 and England 2011) (Dec 2011) EE10 (6m buffer strips next to watercourses) To retain and increase Annual Defra 159 000 179 000 179 000 (by 139 000 the area of uncropped June June 2010) (June 2011) land from the 1 January Agricultural 2008 baseline by 20 Census 000ha To increase the area of Defra on-going 158 709 188 709 171 000 (by 192 381 (February land managed monitoring February 2011) ha ha voluntarily by 30 000ha survey and 2011) above current levels field verification visits To promote Defra on-going 157 60% 40 percent In 2011, 50% of participation in the monitoring by June 2011 farmers outside 355ha Campaign by those survey formal schemes farmers outside agri- had either declared environment land under one of agreements the voluntary Campaign options or retained some uncropped land or left cultivable land out of cultivation To seek to improve the Defra on-going 53 000 59 600 ha 58 500 ha 74 270 ha environmental monitoring (February 2011) ha management of at least survey one third of the uncropped land
To encourage farmers LLGs have set their and land managers to Local Liaison delivery targets take up voluntary Groups and using local ETIP measures which have ETIP targeting and priority the greatest information targeting. environmental value
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3.1 Participation in AES The CFE had a target to help achieve Natural England’s aim of 70 percent of Utilisable Agricultural Area (UAA) within an agri-environment agreement by March 2011. This target has now expired and the Campaign is no longer promoting this specifically, as Natural England has also moved away from this target.
3.2 Key target option uptake in ELS By the end of the Campaign period, approximately 27 000 ELS agreements will have expired. Retention of the baseline area within key target options has therefore not been a trivial matter and should not be regarded as a given. The ELS option area has increased by 32 percent over the baseline of 39 671 ha to a total of 52 339 ha (December 2011). This is behind the interim target of 72 833 ha and it is unlikely this target will be met by June 2012, but progress continues to be made (Annex 3). A number of factors are implicated in the slow progress towards this target. The likely reasons for the lack of progress to target are that initial messaging was not focussed enough, farmer buy-in to the Campaign was slow and the hiatus between the end of the Land Management Advice Service (LMAS) and the start of the ELS Training and Information Programme (ETIP) meant that many farmers with expiring ELS agreements had chosen their options without the knowledge of how to use the Campaign key target options to best effect. More recently, there is anecdotal evidence that the uncertainty of how CAP reform proposals will impact on agri- environment schemes is discouraging farmers from entering or renewing ELS agreements.
When looking at the ELS key target option figures, the national increase of 12 668 ha over the baseline is made up of 12 130 ha from key target counties. The increase is likely to have been positively affected by the presence of Local Campaign Coordinators in these counties promoting the ELS options to the arable audience. Considering that CFE target counties represent 75 percent of England’s arable land, a comparable increase in the area of ELS target options in these areas is therefore expected.
Advice to farmers has encouraged a more balanced uptake of options and has encouraged them to choose at least one third of their agreement points from key target options. In some cases where a CFE one-to-one visit has been conducted, some farmers have gained over 50 percent of their points from CFE key target options.
It should be noted that not all ELS agreements contain key target options; it is felt that some agreement holders could be willing to amend their agreement to include CFE options. The new series of Natural England ETIP (ELS Training and Information Project) Best Practice visits are enabling farmers to do this and the Campaign will be promoting these over the next few months. It has been noted that Natural England are now targeting uptake of a wider range of options than the CFE key target options. Campaign partners and Natural England are working closely to ensure that within key target counties, the CFE options are promoted in the first instance. Farmers will be directed towards ETIP visits, if these are considered to be more appropriate by Local Campaign Coordinators (LCC’s).
Uptake across the key target counties for key target options is varied and monthly analysis of the data provided by Natural England has revealed some key findings.
The inclusion of the option EG5 (brassica fodder crops followed by over-wintered stubbles) which is no longer available continues to impact on the area captured in ELS renewals. The option contributed 7001 ha to the baseline in July 2009 and has slipped to 2244 ha in December 2011. Agreement holders with expiring EG5 points (90 points/ha) can replace this land with a smaller area of other key target options at a ratio of 4.44 ha EG5/1 ha key target options. The Evidence & Monitoring Group prepared a paper on the effects of EG5 within the CFE in August 2011.Following discussions in the Delivery Group, Natural England has taken forward a suggestion from the CFE LCC’s to target agreement holders with expiring EG5 land by offering an ETIP visit. This should encourage uptake of key in-field options and increase CFE land area.
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The uptake of wild bird mixes has continued to increase, with 7,003 ha (December 2011) now recorded, compared with the July 2009 baseline of 5,081 ha. There is a similar story for pollen and nectar mixes, as the area under these options has also increased from 2,178 ha in July 2009 to 3,137 ha December 2011. The more complex key target in-field options of unfertilised cereal headlands within arable fields (EF9), un-harvested cereal headlands (EF10) and uncropped, cultivated margins (EF11) are now at least 50 percent below the 2009 baseline. These options can be seen to directly impact on production and are perceived to cause crop management difficulties, such as higher weed burden. Input from farm advisors on the management of these options is therefore likely to be more significant and farmers could be choosing ELS options that have lower management prescriptions.
Analysis of option uptake across the key target counties shows the positive effect of the CFE where there is a concentration of resources in predominantly arable counties. For example, in East Anglia, where the CFE has strong local coordination and funded communications activities , the area of land in key target options has increased on average by 53 percent (December 2011) since July 2009 compared with the National average increase of 32 percent.
3.3 Option uptake in HLS The CFE has a target to double HLS 'more of the same' option uptake from the July 2009 baseline of 8400 ha by June 2012. This target has already been achieved due to the effort of Campaign partners particularly Natural England and FWAG. As of 1 December 2011, the uptake of these options in HLS has increased by 151 percent to 21,063 ha (Annex 3). This figure is unlikely to significantly increase further, since Natural England will be making less use of these options under their new advice activities.
3.4 Uptake of ELS buffers A later target set for the CFE was to increase the uptake of 6 metre buffer strips next to water courses (EE9 and EE10) to 9760 ha by June 2012. The uptake as of December 2011 is 3269 ha, which is below the nominal baseline of 4880 ha.
Based on anecdotal evidence it appears that farmers are choosing the wrong option code when renewing their agreement. This miscoding of 6m buffer strips against watercourses has been discussed by the Evidence and Monitoring Group in detail. As noted in the Steering Group minutes of the 14 September 2010, the baseline and targets for ELS 6m buffer strips next to watercourses was estimated on the best available data at the time and it was agreed that this would be reviewed in due course. Natural England have let a contract to assess the quality of ELS options and as part of that will seek to ground truth whether the wrong code has been used and to advise if there is an under-recording issue which will feed into the baseline and target discussions.
The CFE and other advice streams are advising farmers and the advisory community that these new buffer strip options are available and are asking farmers to ensure they choose the right option code. Advice packages are also promoting these options as part of balanced ELS agreements.
3.5 Uncropped land The latest figure for the area of uncropped land, taken from the Defra June 2011 survey, is estimated to be 139,000 ha. This is 40,000 ha below the final target and 7000 ha below the original baseline, indicating a decline in uncropped land over the course of the Campaign. The target to retain and increase the area of uncropped land is proving to be a challenge. This data is inherently variable, reflecting weather and cropping decisions as influenced by commodity markets. The experience of the Campaign highlights the vulnerability of voluntary initiatives to external factors such as these.
Nevertheless, the Campaign continues to promote the importance of recording any uncropped or fallow land in target counties using the online record facility. In the run up to the June 2012 Survey, this will be a focus of CFE messaging.
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3.6 Voluntary management The February 2011 Defra on-going monitoring survey, sent out to 5500 randomly selected farmers with more than 10 ha of arable land, collected data on unpaid environmental management reported as either: ‘within the Campaign and fully meeting essential management requirements’ or ‘outside the Campaign and fully meeting or closely resembling essential management requirements’. The 2011 data is not directly comparable with the 2010 baseline survey data due to changes made to the wording of some questions, although this was necessary to increase the clarity of the question asked. The 2012 Defra Survey will capture the same data as that in 2011, so comparability between data sets will be possible.
A sub-group of the Evidence and Monitoring Group was set up in March 2011 to explore ways of improving the robustness of the evidence base, particularly on what is being delivered by the more common voluntary measures that account for a significant proportion of management under the CFE. This group proposed that the FERA field verification work is scaled up. A new Defra project under the Strategic Evidence and Partnership Fund (SEPF) will be exploring in greater detail the environmental outcomes associated with the more common voluntary measures and will be using, within an enhanced methodology and extended sample, some of the data collected from previous verification surveys.
Originally available from October 2010 – January 2011, the online record for voluntary measures was re-launched at Cereals in June 2011 to provide all farmers with the opportunity to record voluntary management that could count towards the CFE for the 2010/2011 cropping year. A total of 359 respondents completed the record, which was an increase of 22 completed forms; the results can be found in Annex 4. Unlike previous years, this facility was available throughout the autumn and winter months. The new form to record voluntary management under the CFE for the 2011/2012 cropping year will be launched in January 2012. Evidence collected from these records will provide a useful insight into the impact the Campaign is having on farmers’ behaviour.
The results of the Masstock Farm Consultancy survey to 5000 clients sent out in February 2011 were available in August. This asked the same questions as the Defra on-going monitoring survey and recipients of both were asked to complete the Defra survey in preference to the Masstock survey. Of the clients surveyed, 992 usable forms were returned and from these a total of 10532. ha were declared under CFE voluntary measures. Of this, 8066 ha were in CFE key target counties and 2456 were outside target counties. Masstock will be completing this survey again in February 2012 to provide two comparable datasets to further compliment the work of the Campaign.
3.7 Remaining targets To promote participation in the Campaign by those farmers outside agri-environment agreements The results of the Defra February 2010 survey suggested that around 23 percent of farmers who are not in an agri-environment scheme have already taken some form of action under the Campaign. There is not a directly comparable figure from 2011 to assess this target against. However, the Defra 2011 February survey found that 50 percent of farmers outside formal schemes had either a) declared land under one of the voluntary Campaign options or b) retained some uncropped land or left cultivable land out of cultivation. This can be compared with 45 percent of those within agri-environment schemes.
To seek to improve the environmental management of at least one third of the uncropped land This target is evaluated through the Defra February survey and was reported against in the 2011 Annual report.
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To encourage farmers and land managers to take up voluntary measures which have the greatest environmental value Greatest environmental value is best achieved locally by following identified local priorities. LLGs have set their advice and delivery priorities by adopting the local priority targeting developed by Natural England for ELS promotion and delivered through ETIP advice.
3.8 Changing attitudes and behaviour Further analysis of the results from the February 2011 Survey were published by Defra’s Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory Research Programme in November. This report investigated whether the results showed differences in response according to the following factors: if a farm is within a target county, participation in agri-environment schemes, farm type, economic size, region and farmer’s age. The following points are a summary of the report’s findings:
23 percent of respondents had a good understanding of the Campaign. These were more likely to be in agri-environment schemes, farms in key target counties and larger mainly arable farms. 10 percent of farmers reported they had little or no idea about the Campaign. These were most likely to be farms outside of agri-environment schemes, in non-target counties, dairy or grazing livestock farms. In comparison with the previous year, there was an increase in the proportion of farmers agreeing with the aims and particularly the approach of the Campaign. Agreement was influenced largely by understanding of the Campaign, agri-environment participation and, to a lesser extent, being within a target county. Around half of farms in target counties retained some uncropped land or left cultivable land out of production in 2010/11, compared with a third of farms in non-target counties. 41 percent of farmers recorded land either as part of the Campaign and fully meeting the essential management requirements and/or outside the Campaign and fully or closely resembling the essential management requirements. Participation clearly increases with the level of understanding of the Campaign. Interestingly, a greater proportion of grazing livestock farmers suggested that they had joined Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) in response to the Campaign compared with other farm types.
FERA’s interim report (June 2011) of the field work to verify the on-going monitoring survey results of 2011 reinforces that support for the CFE remains high. Several of the farmers visited expressed concerns that a small number of farmers were contributing to voluntary measures, whilst the majority were contributing nothing. Overall, there has been an increased awareness of the aims and requirements of the Campaign over the past year. However, confusion remains amongst some about the interaction with Environmental Stewardship (ES), with a small number of those interviewed considering that participation in ES constitutes sufficient contribution to the CFE and a wider view that the Campaign should be targeted at those farmers not in an agri-environment scheme.
4. COMMUNICATIONS
Over the last six months, the CFE governance groups have contributed to the updating of key communication messages for the Campaign. The Programme Manager has led on the delivery of the national media calendar and has continued to utilise a range of communication channels to promote the CFE and its key messages. There have been two conference calls between the Communications Sub Group over this period. Popularity of the various communication streams is summarised in Annex 5.
The Campaign has produced a 2012 Calendar that has been distributed to over 15,000 farms in key target counties that have over 55 ha of arable land in January. The national calendar was
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 10 developed after the success of the East Anglia calendar for 2011. It contains all the dates for cross compliance and those related to ELS and CFE management.
4.1 Engaging with the media Since the CFE was launched in 2009, the initiative has attracted significant coverage in the press. Recent articles that have been released include: Stubble management, Secret Supporters of CFE and Skylark Plots. Press releases have focussed on the YFC Competition, the Minister’s reassurance on CAP reform and the CFE’s 2nd Birthday.
The Programme Office has updated the figure for capturing the Advertising Equivalency Value (AEV) for coverage of the CFE since the launch in November 2009. To date, the AEV for trade, national and regional coverage is over £760k, with the last six months alone equating to over £140k of ‘in-kind’ advertisement. The media coverage of the CFE is summarised in Annex 5.
4.2 E-communications Over the last six months, the CFE website has been updated to provide farmers, advisers and wider industry parties with the information that they require as easily as possible. The alterations to the design and layout of the website have been refreshed and improved site navigation.
An interactive map was launched in September, highlighting all the Beacon Farms so that interested persons could find their nearest CFE beacon farmer. News and events pages continue to be updated by the CFE Administrator. Hits (page impressions) on the CFE website over the past six months peaked in November (Annex 5) after a lull during harvest. Website statistics over the festive period followed the previous year’s trend of a lull of activity during December. Some popular web pages have included the online record, advice area and the article about the Minster’s response to the Campaign’s letter on CAP.
The monthly CFE e-newsletter is now distributed to 657 subscribers. This e-communication promotes activities and events on the ground, whilst updating on current CFE issues and achievements. It also highlights incentives including the CFE on-farm signs, sponsored by Syngenta. Since November 2009, over 7000 signs have been distributed to farmers supporting the Campaign across England.
The Campaign launched a Twitter account (@CFEonline) in November to give up-to-date, relevant and newsworthy information to a wide and easily accessible audience. To date, the account has over 170 followers that include farmers, press and commercial enterprises; it is proving to be a useful communication tool for the Campaign.
4.3 National Events Over the last six months the CFE has had a strong presence, facilitated by the Programme Manager, at a range of technical, farm machinery and country sports shows including the CLA Game Fair, Dairy Event & Livestock Show and Tillage.
At the end of July 2011, the CFE exhibited at the CLA Game Fair. Advice and information helped land managers and game keepers plan how they can support the CFE in the final year. A supportive farmer grew a large demonstration plot that provided a visual representation of how environmental management can sit alongside productive agriculture. This attracted many people, including some who had not yet engaged with the Campaign, giving partners an opportunity to provide advice and to support and influence the wider industry.
4.4 Partner and wider industry activities The CFE partners and wider industry have promoted the initiative at events (as detailed in Annex 5) and in a wide range of digital and print publications over the last twelve months, including member magazines, e-briefs and journals. Promotional activity by wider industry is also summarised in Annex 5. To summarise, the CFE has engaged with over 8,000 farmers and advisors.
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The CFE partners continue to dedicate time and resources to attending governance group meetings and there have been 2 Steering group, 2 Evidence & Monitoring and 3 Delivery group meetings over the course of the past six months.
The Programme Manager attended the NFU National Tenant Farmers Conference at Harper Adams University in November, where she posed a question to the panel. The question asked how landowners could be more supportive towards tenants interested in supporting the Campaign. This brought the Campaign into the spotlight and led to the Minister highlighting the success of the Campaign to fellow delegates. An article highlighting this was released the following week and received coverage in national, regional and local press.
4.5 Local activities Over the past six months, Local Campaign Coordinators have used a range of tools to engage with farmers and advisers across the key target counties. LCCs have organised CFE events or had a significant presence at partner and wider industry events that have reached 8,128 farmers and advisers. Local activity is detailed in Annex 6.
The programme Office continues to hold regular monthly conference calls with the LCC’s and Service Managers. These calls are useful to discuss issues, share best practice and exchange information.
One particular success story has been the series of Wild Bird Habitat Management days held in East Anglia over November. The seven events were oversubscribed, with over 260 farmers attending. These events focussed on providing expert advice on a selection of suitable seed mixtures, siting, establishment and on-going management of plots. Through industry sponsorship, all attendees will receive a free bag of seed in February 2012. Attendees of these events are being followed up with a telephone survey to evaluate the real impact of the advice given.
Local coordinators have focused on piggy-backing onto relevant partner and wider industry events, to offer advice about the CFE; these are detailed in Annex 6. This shows their continuing engagement with CFE partners at a local level. In some of the key target counties, CFE advice clinics have been organised to provide one to one advice on ELS renewals and management through voluntary measures. This has also lead to LCC’s offering free one to one visits specifically aimed at helping farmers support CFE. Local coordinators are also delivering information direct to farmers through letters from farmer chairs and postcards containing key messages to increase engagement. Defra funding has been vital in delivering activities in the key target counties.
FWAG announced that it was entering administration on the 18th November 2011. Once the seven LCC’s (who were originally delivering CFE activity under FWAG) had their redundancy confirmed, the NFU (contract holders for Defra) were able to enter into direct negotiations with Coordinators to continue the provision of CFE coordination. The CFE has successfully retained all ex-FWAG Coordinators. Despite the uncertainty surrounding their jobs and not receiving their salary in October and November, the LCC’s continued working regardless, demonstrating their dedication and commitment to the Campaign.
There will be an annual national CFE meeting with all the LCC’s, farmer chairs & vice chairs in January to discuss promotion of the Campaign during the six months leading to June 2012.
5. LOOKING AHEAD
Following the recommendations from the recent fieldwork, the CFE partners share a commitment to use communications and advice to address key issues, so that progress is evident on the ground at the stage of final reporting in 2012.
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Voluntary Measures: Communications over the next six months will focus on a) promoting voluntary measures and compliance with the essential management requirements, b) the final Defra February survey and c) the online record. Farmers and land managers will be encouraged to declare all land that meets the essential requirements in the 2012 on-going monitoring survey. Last year’s field work identified that some farmers did meet the management requirements for Campaign voluntary measures, but did not declare as doing so. Communications will clarify that farmers will not be penalised based on whether land is declared as complying or not complying with essential management requirements. This has been identified by the partners as an issue. The online record will continue to collate complimentary evidence of the voluntary action taken by farmers in support of the CFE. Communications and advice will also target farmers and land managers who have not yet put in place voluntary measures or have in place similar management that can easily comply with red box requirements. CFE Voluntary Measures will be promoted as a viable alternative to ELS to farms that do not want to renew/enter ELS but still want to benefit the environment.
Key target options in ELS: In the current political climate with CAP reform a few years away, the current situation on transitional arrangements for ELS agreement holders into the next Rural Development Programme, including any developments as required, will be communicated. Defra have recently confirmed that only ELS agreements starting on or after the 1 January 2012 will be required to include a revision clause relating to the next Rural Development Programme, so that they can be amended as necessary to meet any new requirements in the next programme. Agreement holders will have the choice to accept the revisions or exit the agreement without penalty.
The partnership will promote the array of ELS key target options to farmers and land managers, wishing to support the CFE by renewing or joining ELS by gaining at least a third of their points from CFE options.
Across both voluntary measures and ELS options, the Campaign will be placing greater emphasis on the business case for supporting the Campaign. This will include the financial benefits from ELS, but also the efficiencies that can be gained from implementing certain measures.
Under current proposals, the budget for local coordination reduces after March and this will significantly impact the level of progress the Campaign will be able to achieve from April to June 2012. The LCC’s will only be able to dedicate half a day per week to the CFE, as opposed to the current level of two days.
5.1 Environmental outcomes FERA have developed methodologies to assess the potential environmental outcomes that the CFE will have delivered within its relatively short life span, based on field assessments of habitat quality of voluntary measures and delivery against farmland bird, wildlife and resource protection goals. The Evidence & Monitoring Group (EMG) have ratified the approach (which will be further improved) and an initial report on the ratio of actual to maximum delivery scores has been completed, but not signed off. The report compares 2010 to 2011 results for farmland birds and farmland wildlife, but only 2010 data is available for resource protection, as on-going monitoring is in progress. The 2011 data have also allowed analysis of more types of voluntary measure. Environmental delivery for farmland birds has suffered from greater losses of rotational set-aside compared with losses of long term set-aside, so low scores for fallows (C5) are disappointing. Nevertheless, sky-lark plots are scoring well and while 2011 scores were not statistically greater than in 2010, there were improvements. There were statistically significant improvements in delivery for farmland wildlife on reverted arable areas (C3a) and most criteria were being met for pollinators and arable flora. Data for resource protection delivery is only available for 2010 and these indicate that voluntary measures were often failing to deliver, reflecting poor location and vegetation cover and margin plots not wide enough. The results highlight where advice might be best targeted to achieve greater delivery, bearing mind the measures are voluntary and unpaid for.
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A successful bid to the Defra Strategic Evidence and Partnership Fund (SEPF) will extend the CFE assessment of environmental outcomes and impacts on behaviour. The project is titled ‘Assessing the environmental and behavioural outcomes from the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) and their implications for the strategic consideration of the future application of voluntary approaches to achieving policy objectives.’ The work should allow the Campaign to contribute to the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP) commitment 18, by assessing the environmental quality outcomes to supplement the quantitative targets and provide lessons on partnership approaches.
The work will report in full in June 2012 to inform: the Minister of the measures of success and lessons for the future for the Campaign, the NEWP review of the effectiveness of industry-led voluntary approaches, which will be concluded later in 2012, and on-going negotiations with Europe on ‘greening’ the CAP. A further, supplementary report in March 2013 will give full details of the work carried out throughout the summer, autumn and winter 2012-13 to update the assessment of the “real world” environmental outcomes delivered by the Campaign activities.
5.2 Lessons Learned so far An action from the September Steering Group meeting was to look into the lessons that can be learned from the Campaign so far. The Chairman of the Evidence & Monitoring Group took on the challenge of writing a report that captured the partners’ and LLGs’ assessment of the Campaign to date, with a view to assess what could be learnt from the model used to deliver the Campaign. Members of each governance group, LCCs and Chairmen of LLGs were consulted about their thoughts on what lessons can be learned from the Campaign.
One of the aims of the report is to lead the way for the evolution of the Campaign beyond its scheduled end of June 2012. The report is therefore a living document and will be included in the final reporting schedule. However, in summary, the findings to date of this report can be found in Annex 7 as a SWOT analysis.
5.3 The CFE post June 2012 A proposal has been developed by the partners for a campaign to continue beyond June 2012. The Minister of State has indicated his support for this, provided a workable and affordable initiative can be agreed by the partners, including government. A sub-group of the CFE Steering Group is taking forward consideration of the nature and scope of such an initiative and developing a business case to be submitted to the Minister
The Campaign recognises that it will not, and should not, continue under its current format with a strict focus on set-aside, looking instead to evolve to include other industry initiatives by streamlining and integrating messages to farmers using the CFE’s local structure. The political environment has progressed since the start of CFE; in particular, CAP reform poses many potential changes and the likelihood of regulatory set-aside going forward has therefore weakened. This change in policy drivers could allow the CFE to address newer more relevant challenges for farmers, recognising the strength of a National Campaign with a local focus and delivery.
6. CONCLUSION
During the past six months, the Campaign has continued to build momentum in encouraging farmers to adopt certain land management practices that replicate and exceed the environmental benefits of former set-aside land.
The partners at a national and local level will continue to work collaboratively and with wider industry to address key issues around increasing the quality of voluntary measures, encouraging farmers to declare their voluntary management, particularly the importance of completing the Defra February on-going monitoring survey. In addition to a focus on voluntary measures, partners will continue to encourage the uptake of the key ELS options identified by the Campaign.
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 14
At a national level, the Delivery Group and Steering Group will keep a close eye on developments with regards to CAP greening requirements and/or changes to cross compliance, as these issues directly impact farmers and land managers who are supporting the CFE or considering the prospect of becoming involved. The Evidence and Monitoring Group will strive to address issues around recording and monitoring and continue with their efforts to broadly assess the potential of the CFE to deliver environmental outcomes. This Group will also be heavily involved with the final reporting of the Campaign.
The Campaign will be continuing to promote the CFE via key messages that have been used over the last six months to target farmers yet to engage with the Campaign. Considering this will be against a backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the CAP reform proposals, the messages will need to carefully consider ELS on an individual farm basis, alongside the CFE’s voluntary measures. Voluntary measures are a viable and worthwhile alternative, particularly where farmers do not want to commit to ELS while there is uncertainty about CAP reform.
Funding from Defra and significant resource from the partnership has been vital in the delivery of the CFE since July. During the final six months, the LCC’s, with a reduced budget for communications, will consider and develop creative ways to engage with farmers, particularly those who are managing land which is not yet managed through an agri-environment scheme (also known as ‘whitespace’ farms. Local activity will focus on piggy-backing on a range of partner and wider industry events, where possible. As shown through the Defra February Survey, the LCCs have been hugely successful in generating interest from farmers, resulting in their active participation in the Campaign. As noted in 2010, the LCCs are vital to maintaining the local personality of the Campaign and partners are considering how to retain LCCs’ time commitment to two days per week, in order to continue facilitating action on the ground.
Consistent communications activity and advice in this final six months will be vital for the CFE to build on the success and drive further progress towards the targets by June 2012. There is diminishing time available for farmers to adopt management practices or adjust their existing management to support the CFE in meeting its targets. Therefore, the CFE partnership will continue to develop relationships with the media and wider industry to extend its reach even further.
The Campaign will be looking at ways to evolve after June and will be submitting a business case for further funding early in 2012. The CFE’s current structure has become a useful delivery mechanism that can integrate the promotion of environmentally beneficial land management practices for farmers with other industry initiatives.
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 15
ANNEX 1 Membership of the governance groups
Steering Group membership:
Member Organisation Peter Kendall (joint Chair) President NFU Harry Cotterell (joint Chair) President CLA Andrew Clark NFU Victoria Hicks CFE Programme Manager Gareth Morgan RSPB Caroline Drummond LEAF Alastair Leake GWCT Alice De Soer CAAV Andy Turner Environment Agency David Caffall AIC Claire Collyer CLA Jim Smyllie Natural England Lee McDonough Defra Ian Pickard Defra Andrew Watson AICC Jim Egan Chair of Delivery Group Jon Marshall Chair of Evidence and Monitoring Group
Membership of the Evidence and Monitoring Group:
Member Organisation Jon Marshall (Chair) Marshall Agroecology Victoria Hicks CFE Programme Manager Andrea Graham NFU Claire Collyer CLA James Davies Environment Agency Will Peach RSPB Jim Egan Chair of Delivery Group Julia Negus Defra Andrew Morris Defra Mike Green Natural England Peter Thompson GWCT Nigel Boatman FERA Lindsey Clothier Defra Gurpreet Padda Defra Gavin Siriwardena BTO Ian Woodhurst Wildlife Link
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 16
Membership of the Delivery Group:
Member Organisation Jim Egan (Chair) GWCT Victoria Hicks CFE Programme Manager Claire Robinson NFU Claire Collyer CLA James Davies Environment Agency Hazel Doonan AIC James Taylor or Kathryn Mitchell LEAF Mike Green Natural England Alice De Soer CAAV Alex Butler GWCT Julia Negus Defra Andrew Watson AICC Tom Lancaster RSPB Jon Marshall Chair, E&M Group
Membership of the Communications sub- group:
Member Organisation Jim Egan/Claire Robinson/Claire Collyer GWCT/NFU/CLA (Chair) Victoria Hicks CFE Programme Manager Mike Thomas NFU Lisa Barker CLA James Davies Environment Agency Geoff Dodgson AIC Justine Hards LEAF Alex Adams Natural England Alice De Soer CAAV Morag Walker GWCT Laura Hunter Defra Andrew Watson AICC Nik Shelton RSPB
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 17
ANNEX 2: List of key target counties
County Area of arable (hectares) Percentage cropped Lincolnshire 392000 77 Norfolk 284000 68 North Yorkshire 218000 36 Humberside/East Yorkshire 212000 76 Suffolk 206000 69 Cambridgeshire 192000 78 Essex 176000 71 Hertfordshire 60000 62 Bedfordshire 59000 70 Kent 117000 50 Wiltshire 109000 42 Hampshire 108000 49 Northants 107000 58 Oxfordshire 103000 53 Leicestershire 100000 50 Nottinghamshire 99000 67 Gloucestershire 79000 38 Warwickshire 77000 51 Buckinghamshire 43000 39 South Yorkshire 40000 49 Berkshire 33000 48 Dorset 65000 32
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 18
ANNEX 3: Targets
ELS and HLS option uptake
Jul-09 01-Dec-11
Agreements Agreements Containing Containing Selected Option Area Total Option Selected Option Area Total Option % change in CFE Report Options (Ha) Items Options (Ha) Items area by Ha Option 39671 52,339 32 10,501 32,227 14,888 11,529 43,220 18,239 34 EF1 - Field corner management 7,447 15,194 0 8,783 22,044 0 45 EF10 - Unharvested cereal headland within arable fields 180 500 0 85 235 0 -53 EF11 - Uncropped, cultivated margins for rare plants on arable land 379 650 0 217 324 0 -50 EF13 - Uncropped cultivated areas for ground-nesting birds - arable * 131 295 0 EF15 - Reduced herbicide cereal crop preceding over-wintered stubble * 72 597 0 EF2 - Wild bird seed mixture 151 229 0 2,611 4,746 0 1,969 EF22 - Extended overwintered stubbles * 658 4,426 0 EF2NR - Wild bird seed mixture 3,286 4,039 0 1,378 2,109 0 -48 EF3 - Wild bird seed mixture on set-aside land ** 449 637 0 57 62 0 EF4 - Nectar Flower mixture 1,942 1,950 0 2,419 3,103 0 59 EF5 - Pollen + nectar flower mixture on set-aside land ** 126 196 0 14 21 0 EF7 - Beetle banks 431 94 0 536 110 0 17 EF8 - Skylark plots 522 0 14,888 526 18,239 23 EF9 - Unfertilised cereal headland within arable fields 110 701 0 85 423 0 -40 EG2 - Wild bird seed mixture in grassland areas 14 15 0 34 41 0 171 EG2NR - Wild bird seed mixture in grassland areas 211 161 0 62 45 0 -72 EG3 - Nectar flower mixture in grassland areas 63 32 0 25 12 0 -62 EG4 - Cereals for whole crop silage followed by over-wintered stubbles 194 827 0 133 587 0 -29 EG5 - Brassica fodder crops followed by over-wintered stubbles ** 587 7,001 0 150 2,244 0 EJ13 - Winter cover crops * 75 779 0 EJ5 - In-field grass areas * 199 358 0 EJ9 - 12m buffer strips for watercourses on cultivated land * 509 659 0 * = new option, ** = discontinued option
1 July 2009 01-Dec-11
Agreements Agreements Containing Containing Selected Option Area Total Option Selected Option Area Total Option HLS More of the same Options (Ha) Items Options (Ha) Items % Change 8,383 21,063 151 Option Description 1,094 7,150 2,466 2594 17156.89 7813 140 HF1 - Management of field corners 451 778 0 1103 2354.87 0 203 HF10 - Unharvested cereal headlands 56 214 0 68 224.57 0 5 HF10NR - Unharvested cereal headlands 3 1.59 0 HF11 - Uncropped, cultivated margins for rare plants 45 88 0 76 217.85 0 147 HF13 - Uncropped cultivated areas for ground-nesting birds - arable 522 2,832 0 1071 5882.11 0 108 HF13NR - Uncropped cultivated areas for ground-nesting birds - arable 36 182 0 189 686.21 0 278 HF15 - Reduced herbicide cereal crops followed by overwintered stubble 107 1,197 0 211 2423.03 0 102 HF15NR - Reduced herbicide cereal crops following overwintered stubble 1 9 0 7 48.41 0 448 HF2 - Wild bird seed mixture 27 52 0 161 344.2 0 562 HF2NR - Wild bird seed mixture 192 291 0 273 488.8 0 68 HF4 - Nectar flower mixture 439 708 0 1330 2893.27 0 309 HF7 - Beetle banks 128 28 0 352 72.44 0 160 HF8 - Skylark plots 94 0 2,466 257 0 7813 217 HF9 - Unfertilised cereal headlands 24 158 0 45 203.04 0 29 HF9NR - Unfertilised cereal headlands 1 3.09 0 HG4 - Cereals for whole-crop silage followed by overwintered stubble 20 93 0 41 201.99 0 117 HJ13 - Winter cover crops 2 11 0 HJ13NR - Winter cover crops 0 0 0 HJ5 - In-field grass areas to prevent erosion or run-off 146 516 0 295 936.65 0 81 HJ9 - 12 m buffer strips for watercourses on cultivated land 2 4 0 86 163.77 0 4,387
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 20
ANNEX 4: Online Record Data
The data from the 359 respondents to the 2010/2011 survey are summarised below:
Number of applicable TOTAL farmers / out of AREA ha 359 Average What is the total area of former permanent set-aside are you Q4c managing under ELS or HLS grassland management options? 1165.37 94 12.40 What is the total area of uncropped land or left any cultivatable Q6 land out of production? 2412.13 279 8.65
The area of land in CFE voluntary measures as recorded under the online record for 2010 – 2011 is as follows:
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 22
ANNEX 5: Communications
National and regional coverage on the CFE since November 2009
Breakdown of national coverage since November 2009
Breakdown of regional coverage since November 2009
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 23
CFE website The trends in visitors to the website are as follows:
12000
10000
8000
6000 Examples of partner events where the CFE has been promoted Uniques
4000 Page impressions
2000
0
Jul-11
Jan-11
Jun-11
Oct-10 Oct-11
Apr-11
Feb-11 Sep-11
Dec-10 Dec-11
Aug-11
Nov-10 Nov-11 Mar-11 May-11
Examples of partner events where the CFE has been promoted:
Partners Events NFU NFU National Tenant Farmers Conference, NFU Branch AGM’s CLA CLA Game Fair 2011, Regional walks, Committee, Branch & Council meetings RSPB Farm walks, conference speeches Hope Farm (RSPB) Events throughout the year LEAF Open Farm Sunday, Technical events, LEAF ebrief, demonstration farm walks & events GWCT Farm walks and events throughout the year AICC Annual Conference AIC Annual Conference CAAV Spring briefings Natural England Events throughout the year, ETIP visits, Dairy Event & Livestock Show, Malvern Farming Conference FWAG Tillage, Farm walks and events Environment Agency Farm events across the country
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 24
Promotion of CFE by farming press
40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Farmers Guardian Farmers Weekly
From June 2011 the CFE was mentioned in the Farmers Guardian 19 times resulting in £20,790.00 AVE and in the Farmers Weekly 27 times resulting in £38,465.00 AVE.
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0 Farmers Guardian Farmers Weekly
Since the November 2009, Farmers Guardian has mentioned the CFE 68 times resulting in £100,583.00 AVE in total and the Farmers Weekly 116 times resulting in £263,509.00 AVE.
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 25
ANNEX 6: Local Activity
Events in the key target counties since 2009
Event Attendees CFE on farm events including 285 farmers ‘Pollinators on productive land’ Brooms Barn Open Day 200 farmers/advisers
Masstock Open Day 60 farmers
NIAB TAG day 50 farmers and advisers
Veolia Resource Protection 25 farmers and spray event operators NIAB cereals workshop 26 farmers
KWS Crop Trials 65 farmers
Bayer Crop Trials 58 farmers
Syngenta Crop Trials 72 farmers
Organic Cereals Open Day 56 farmers
Masstock Crop Trials 100 farmers
CFE/RSPB event 12 farmers
Frontier Open Days 350 farmers
County Shows Awareness raising
BBRO open days 30 farmers
CLA renewables event 30 farmers
AONB workshops 25 farmers
NE adviser training 35 advisers
Jimmy’s Farm Science Awareness raising Festival Anderson’s seminar 200 farmers
Stewardship farm walk 35 farmers
Norfolk Farming Conference 400 farmers
Sentry Conference 200 farmers
CSF soil management event 6 farmers
TAG Conference 50 farmers/advisers
Farm business update 80 farmers
ELS renewal workshops 45 farmers
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 26
Stewardship farm walks 35 farmers
HGCA Grain Workshop 20 farmers
TOTAL ATTENDEES 2315
Events in Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire
Event Attendees On farm training events 70 agricultural students
Thrapston market Awareness raising
GWCT shoot walk 54 (mainly farmers)
CFE Conference 80 (mainly farmers)
BASIS Course 9 advisers FATI/ETIP/ELS event 11 farmers
Green Futures events 130 farmers
CFE breakfast meeting 17 agronomists
CAAV briefing 112 advisers
Pesticide and Water 29 agronomists Protection workshops
NFU meeting 15 farmers
Syngenta Crop 36 farmers (mainly farmers) Trials/Operation Pollinator Event Potato Council Open Day 18 farmers Young Farmer event 20 young farmers
TOTAL ATTENDEES 581
Events in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and Lowland Derbyshire
Event Attendees On farm CFE events 180 farmers
CFE/ELS drop in clinics 9 farmers
CFE/ELS advice visits 5 farmers
Masstock events 150 farmers
NE ELS renewal clinics 40 advisers
LAMMA 2011 21 farmers (direct contact)
Green Futures events 95 farmers
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 27
WLDC sustainable farming 22 event
CFE conference 18 farmers/advisers (direct (Nottinghamshire) contact)
LCC farm business forum 52 farmers
Sleaford farmer discussion 15 farmers group
Elsom Seeds Open Day 19 farmers/advisers
Openfield meeting 30 agronomists
TOTAL ATTENDEES 656
Events in Lincolnshire
Event Attendees CFE conference 70 farmers/176 advisers
Newark cattle market Awareness raising
CFE on farm events 300 advisers and agronomists
County ploughing matches Awareness raising
One to one advice clinics 25 farmers
NFU farm walk 70 farmers
TOTAL ATTENDEES 641
Events in Nottinghamshire
Event Attendees CFE conference 100 farmers/advisers
CFE on farm events 85 farmers and advisers
AICC regional meeting 25 advisers and agronomists
CSF event 35 farmers
Local county agricultural Awareness raising shows
West Midlands Potato Day 45 farmers
Hutchinsons Trial Days 60 farmers
Masstock Trials evening 60 farmers
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Countrywide Moisture Meter 60 farmers Day NMR visit 80 farmers
NFU meetings 20 farmers
Syngenta Trials 20 farmers
CSF launch 40 agronomists and advisers
Countrywide agronomist 15 agronomists event Hub Rural Business Support 21 farmers Day County ploughing matches Awareness raising
TOTAL ATTENDEES 646
Events in Warwickshire
Event Attendees CFE on farm events 45 farmers
Frontier Open Day 150 farmers
Farmway Open Day 350 – 400 farmers
Agrovista events 35 agronomists
ELS renewal meetings 52 farmers
NE meetings 40 farmers
Masstock farm events 135 farmers
CFE/ELS drop in clinics 15 farmers
CFE/ELS farm visits 22 farmers
CFE breakfast meeting 16 agronomists
JSR Open Day 80 farmers and advisers
Open Farm Sunday Awareness raising
DKB crop protection days 300 farmers
RSPB Dawn Chorus Walk 22 farmers
NFU/Momenta SPR meeting 16 farmers
Local agronomy company 25 advisers forum
CFE briefing 30 agricultural students
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 29
Agronomy briefing Cropwise 18 agronomists and Openfields
Joint CFE briefing with EA 10 agronomists
GWCT farm walk 40 farmers and advisers
Ryedale Show 40 farmers NFU meeting 15 farmers
TOTAL ATTENDEES 1506
Events in North, South and East Yorkshire (three LCCs)
Event Attendees On farm CFE events 45 farmers
CFE/ELS events 32 farmers
Young farmers event 21 young farmers
Wingham Wheat Club 26 farmers
Kent Countryside 12 advisers Management Partnership
CFE agents event 17 land agents
ETIP training event 6 advisers Farmers Club Event 25 farmers
Local ploughing matches Awareness raising
Kent Show Awareness raising
CFE/ELS events 29 farmers
Joint event with water 25 farmers and sprayer company operators TOTAL ATTENDEES 238
Events in Kent
Event Attendees On farm CFE events 55 farmers
CFE/NE weed event 13 farmers
Farmland bird walk with 21 farmers AONB Resource 20 farmers Protection/Metaldehyde event Brackley Farmers Club 10 farmers meetings
CFE agents meeting 20 land agents
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 30
Farmland bird project launch 50 farmers and advisers
EA events 15 farmers
Agrifocus 250 farmers County Shows Awareness raising
Masstock Smart Farming 148 farmers events
Stewardship events 27 agents North Bucks Hedgelaying 40 farmers Competition ETIP ELS Meeting 25 farmers TOTAL ATTENDEES 695
Events in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Event Attendees On farm CFE events 72 farmers
Masstock Agronomy Trials 50 farmers
FWAG walk 20 farmers
Resource 25 farmers Protection/Metaldehyde event CSF event 50 farmers
CFE agents meeting 10 land agents
NE/EA/CFE day 25 farmers
AONB Conference 150 farmers and advisers
County Shows Awareness raising
TOTAL ATTENDEES 402
Events in Hampshire
Event Attendees On farm CFE events 64 farmers
NFU arable meetings 19 farmers
NFU annual open meetings 150 farmers
FATI/ELS renewal events 28 farmers
CFE land agent meetings 25 land agents
Bright Seeds Open Day 150 farmers
GWCT Open Day 25 farmers
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 31
Agrifocus farmer events 91 farmers
SWFBI events 82 farmers/advisers
County Shows Awareness raising
TOTAL ATTENDEES 634
Events in Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire
ANNEX 7: Lessons Learned SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses Successful delivery vehicle exploiting Too many targets were set, with many synergies between partners at local, being of a complex nature regional & national level. Baselines and monitoring protocols were Contributed to a shift in farmer attitudes not agreed from the outset on farming & the environment with A voluntary approach is vulnerable to discussion on the subject becoming external factors more mainstream. Messaging not fully agreed at outset Engagement with agronomists and other Over-complicated management criteria commercial businesses to promote for voluntary options environmental messages. Sponsorship not fully captured to gauge Setting targets gave confidence to extent of industry contribution NGO’s that CFE was serious & had Communication within partners identifiable outcomes. organisations and also governance Industry partnership represents all groups sometimes disjointed interests in arable landscapes providing Lack of consistent personnel on groups a useful forum for delivery and action. Changes to the wording of the Defra Significant industry contribution via ‘in- survey have meant inaccurate and non- kind’ sponsorship and advertising. comparable data sets but this was Structure allows for resolution of necessary for clarity conflicts and ideas to flow throughout all Quantity & consistency of uptake levels. LLG’s have facilitated local ownership through targeted delivery, engagement & training enabling innovative ideas. Funding for local coordination has been vital to achieving traction with the farming community in key target counties.
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 32
Opportunities Threats Set new targets with realistic timescales External factors such as commodity and trajectories for achievement pricing, CAP reform/greening measures Clear & simple messaging from the start and the recession. Better monitoring of ‘in-kind’ sponsorship Altering design of agri-environments and dedicated time by partners from the schemes during life of a Campaign onset Maintain partner buy-in at National and Build on momentum of ‘farming and the local level environment’ becoming mainstream Maintain own initiative identity as well as Stronger engagement with land agents that of those brought-in Focus towards environmental outcomes Must offer a distinct and unique quality not necessarily quantitative targets Extend the network of coordinators beyond current key target counties so the Campaign is truly National Extend the remit of CFE to wider audiences and farming sectors Promote economic reasons for maintaining a healthy farm environment Wider integration with other industry initiatives to include promotion of common messaging Beacon farms could work ‘harder’ for status and be more involved in promotion
CFE_InterimReport_December 2011 33