Agriculture & Farming Transition

We will prioritise working with farmers to identify and understand their natural capital and ecosystem services, support increasing biodiversity, sequestering and storing carbon and natural flood management which are embedded in the aims and objectives within the Cornwall AONB Management Plan alongside their role of local food and fibre production. Farmers are integral to our cultural heritage and are the architects of the conservation and enhancement of the protected landscape for future generations.

In November 2020, The Path to Sustainable Farming: An Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024 was published by Defra who stated that by 2028, they want to see:

• A renewed agricultural sector, producing healthy food for consumption at home and abroad, where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy
• Farming and the countryside contributing significantly to environmental goals including addressing climate change

Defra’s aim is that all farmers will be:

• Running sustainable businesses that do not need to rely on public subsidy
• Managing their whole business in a way that delivers profitable food production and the recovery of nature, fusing the best modern technology available today with the rediscovery of the traditional art of good farm husbandry
• Able to access public money to help them deliver environmental and animal welfare outcomes on the land they manage and to help their businesses become more productive and sustainable
• Meeting clear, relevant and outcomefocused legal standards that champion UK food internationally, prevent environmental harm, protect biosecurity and protect animal welfare.

Annex B6 of the Agricultural Transition Plan focuses on The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (2021 to 2024) which is Cornwall AONB’s opportunity to develop a farmer network and help to prepare farmers and landowners for transition to changes to existing agri-environment schemes.

Until 2027 the gradual transition from EU led countryside stewardship schemes to UK government produced and DEFRA run Environmental Land Management schemes is taking place, with aims to deliver grants for farmers to promote sustainable farming techniques.

This is an opportunity for Protected Landscapes organisations, farmers and land managers within these areas to work better together, building on existing relationships. The programme will focus on the key challenges facing farmers and communities in Protected Landscapes, including helping improve, and prevent damage to, the landscape; effectively managing high levels of visitors; and helping farmers and businesses capitalise on economic opportunities. In doing so, the programme will contribute to wider policy objectives, including the Defra 25-year Environmental Plan, 30 by 30, delivery of the Nature Recovery Network and Net Zero Carbon GHG commitment, and supporting farmers to be more competitive and resilient to challenges

Many of the farmers in Cornwall AONB are already pioneering environmental land management and are supporting Defra’s priority six public goods.

The Cornwall AONB Management Plan aims, policies and objectives will support sustaining a resilient farmed landscape.

Alongside working with Government to develop policies, grant funding programmes and deliver practical projects, which also support farmers and landowners, Cornwall AONB’s project pipeline will demonstrate a commitment to people, place, nature and climate in this arena.

The AONB Partnership will work together, and with Government, to understand and communicate how future schemes can be a tool to deliver improved environmental benefits, sensitive access and wellbeing.

Continued communication to support young farmers and new entrants to help with succession to maintain well skilled land managers in the landscape forms part of our collective approach. We will also work with Government departments to raise the importance of the current level of investment needs to be at least sustained and re-focused on future schemes which is clearly integrated with other funding sources and a new regulatory framework. We will aim to create a platform and network that establishes peer to peer sharing of farming systems and practices and developing terminology which enables inclusivity whilst enabling all land managers to find different solutions to a common goal.