Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures he plans to include in the (a) nutrient management and (b) integrated pest management Sustainable Farming Incentive standards.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive will pay farmers for actions they take to manage their land in an environmentally sustainable way, alongside food production. Actions will be grouped into simple packages known as standards, to make it as easy as possible for farmers to identify what actions are best suited to their land.

We are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to collaboratively design the new standards, so they are fit for purpose.

We will only release standards into the live service when we are confident in their design and our ability to successfully deliver the service. Our current plan for the introduction of the nutrient management and integrated pest management standards into the scheme will be in 2023.