Awareness of the Campaign is high
10th February 2010
Farmers' awareness of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment is high; according to a recent Defra survey. Already 85 per cent of farmers have heard about the Campaign and many are managing land voluntarily.
Around 5,000 farmers and growers were questioned back in November, when the Campaign was officially launched to get a benchmark for the level of voluntary, environmental activity already being carried out on farm, in addition to the then current level of awareness of the Campaign.
The high levels of awareness show that the Campaign has already made an impression and has the potential to have a huge impact. It shows that 174,000 hectares of land are already managed for conservation outside agri-environment schemes and over 50 per cent of farmers have retained uncultivated land. These figures demonstrate the huge amount of work that farmers are already doing and this provides an encouraging starting point on which the Campaign can build.
It is vital that the interest in the Campaign is turned into action on the ground. Campaign partners are encouraging farmers to:
- Either enter ELS for the first time or check the expiration date of their ELS agreement. If it is this year then apply for your next ELS application pack and pick some Campaign options such as pollen and nectar mixes, wild bird seed mixtures or perhaps a 12 metre buffer strip to stop runoff into watercourses
- Retain your uncropped land and existing environmental management
- Take a look at the Campaign's 'Farmers Guide to the Voluntary Measures' and adopt at least one measure outside of an ELS agreement that can work with your farming business. This could even be on your uncropped land.
Another 5,500 questionnaires are being sent out on 15 February as part of the ongoing monitoring programme for the Campaign which will be conducted annually. Campaign partners are urging farmers to fill them in and add their strength and voice to the Campaign.
