A wealth of ideas on how farmers can help increase biodiversity and protect valuable resources
26th February 2010
Farmers across Yorkshire and the North East will have now received a Farmer's Guide to Voluntary Measures produced as an A4 booklet with an aerial photograph on the front. It is designed to emphasise the voluntary nature of the campaign.
"The vast majority of farmers will already be contributing to the campaign, without even realising it," said local campaign co-ordinator Alison Clayton. "Everyone involved in Environmental Stewardship is automatically helping us achieve our ambitious national targets.
"But that's not the whole picture and many more farmers routinely farm with the environment in mind - for example leaving areas of fallow land for use by ground-nesting birds.
"That's where this guide comes in. It sets out a wealth of ideas on how farmers can help increase biodiversity and protect valuable resources such as soil and water. It also includes a simple one-page form to record the work that's has been undertaken and this will help us gain a real measure of the environmental improvement work that farmers carry out."
According to fellow campaign co-ordinator Fraser Hugill, the aim is to make it as easy as possible for farmers to get involved.
"The simplest and most cost effective way to support the campaign is by joining the Environmental Stewardship Scheme," he said. "But this is not for everyone and that's why this range of voluntary options has been developed.
"Unlike with cross-compliance measures, where financial penalties can be applied if they are not carried out precisely, the beauty of this voluntary approach is that farmers decide for themselves what they want to do on their farm.
"The campaign is organising and attending events to provide free advice, but there will be no farm inspections to ensure compliance - it just doesn't work that way. Instead, as far as voluntary measures are concerned, the record form is designed to be kept on farm and individual contributions towards the campaign will be measured through postal surveys, follow-up phone calls and a small number of site visits each year."
By making involvement in the campaign as simple and straightforward as possible, the hope is that every farmer will 'do their bit' by considering what they are already doing to support the campaign and what they could do slightly differently to increase their contribution either through Environmental Stewardship or by adopting some voluntary measures.
"This campaign is all about farmers showing what they are doing to benefit the environment," added Alison. "It is really important we seize this opportunity or there is a risk that in a couple of year's time, it will not be a voluntary guide but a compulsory scheme dictating how farmland is to be managed."
