Farm 'set-aside' scheme unveiled
New proposals for farmers to receive payments to "set aside" uncultivated land is to be put forward by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
The compulsory set-aside scheme for farmers in receipt of support under the Single Payment Scheme was effectively abandoned by the European Commission in 2008 following widespread flooding and concerns about high global food prices.
But Mr Benn is expected to announce that the Government is for the first time ready to consider an alternative voluntary approach, in order to preserve the environmental benefits of set-aside.
In a speech to the National Farmers' Union in Birmingham, Mr Benn will call on farmers to come up with innovative ways to use set-aside to protect the environment.
He is expected to say that he is prepared to consider a voluntary approach alongside a combined mandatory and incentive-based option when making a final decision on a scheme. A decision is expected in the summer.
Environmental groups have raised concern that the lack of uncultivated land deprives birds and other wild creatures of food and a refuge from human activity.
Introduced in the late 1980s, the system of paying farmers to set aside land from production was designed to discourage over-production after years in which Europe produced mountains of surplus food and drink, threatening commodity prices.
Mr Benn secured agreement last year from fellow EU ministers that individual countries can pay farmers to restore some set-aside land.
He is expected to say: "Farmers do so much for the environment out of love of the land. And we're working together to see how we can best retain the advantages of set aside, while settling on a better approach for farmers.
"Set-aside delivered important environmental benefits and over time these benefits will be vital to maintaining levels of production. Over 70% of the farmers whom Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) said there were benefits to leaving land uncropped."