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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local action by farmer groups to improve soil and water resource management in rural areas.

Supporting sustainable farming is a fundamental part of our Agricultural Transition Plan published last year. As part of that, we are introducing three schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Local Nature Recovery scheme and the Landscape Recovery scheme.  Together, they will be an important vehicle in delivering our 25 Year Environment Plan ambitions and our carbon net zero goals. The schemes will reward farmers for, for example, sustainable farming practices, improving animal health, welfare, and creating, managing, and preserving habitats including freshwater habitats and habitats that store water.

We have already confirmed that the Sustainable Farming Incentive will pay farmers for management practices that improve soil health by improving soil structure, soil organic matter, and soil biology. More detail on the Local Nature and Landscape Recovery schemes will be published shortly.

Through our new Farming Transformation Fund, Water Management Theme, we are offering support for farmers to secure their water supplies though the construction of on-farm reservoirs. We will also help improve the more efficient use of water through irrigation, by offering support for best-practice application equipment, such as boom or trickle irrigators.

We are exploring the approaches to how best to support collaboration, learning from examples such as the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund.