Gove reveals model for post-brexit green scheme - farmers weekly

Michael Gove © David Hartley/REX/Shutterstock Defra secretary Michael Gove has given the industry one of its strongest indications of how agri-funding will look post Brexit after revealing

the first agri-environment scheme to be directly paid for by the UK. The Results-Based Agri-environment Payment Scheme (RBAPS) is a governmental payment by results (PBR) instrument that aims

to achieve domestic policy goals through the setting of specific targets. See also: Farmers ahead of the game on conservation The agricultural PBR pilot scheme currently pays participating

farmers in Norfolk, Suffolk and North Yorkshire based on the environmental goods individuals provide. > “This approach signals how we see the future of farm payments, > where farmers 

deliver public goods for the environment which we all > enjoy.” > Michael Gove Under the initiative, farmers receive cash for implementing tailor-made management plans for their own

land, allowing them to choose the most suitable method to achieve agreed end results – the greater the result, the more they get paid. Farmers in Norfolk and Suffolk have already received

cash for planting nectar plots for bees and other pollinators, while participants in North Yorkshire have made pastures into habitats for wading birds alongside restoring and conserving

species-rich hay meadows. EU FUNDING Funding for a three-year pilot trial of RBAPS had initially come from the EU and was due to run out at the end of the year. But the announcement from the

secretary of state will pump an additional £540,000 into the project, keeping the scheme open for a further two years. “Under the CAP, agri-environment schemes have been overly bureaucratic

and inflexible,” said Mr Gove.   “This has impeded innovation for farmers who are passionate about the environment and want to see real change.” The secretary of state said the scheme

marked a shift in how Defra rewarded farmers for their work. “This approach signals how we see the future of farm payments, where farmers deliver public goods for the environment which we

all enjoy.” Mr Gove added: “I am delighted to extend this scheme and look forward to seeing further evidence of its success as we plan for our future outside the EU.”