Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 8 March 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for the future of the compulsory set aside scheme; and if she will make a statement.
Compulsory set-aside (the obligation for farmers to take a percentage of agricultural land out of production) was abolished in 2008. The Campaign for the Farmed Environment was launched in 2009 as an alternative to regulation, allowing farmers to voluntarily implement changes in farming practice that will recapture the environmental benefits formerly provided by set-aside land. It is due to run until July 2012.
The Campaign is led by the farming industry and is its chance to demonstrate that it can deliver better environmental outcomes for farmland birds, other farm wildlife, soil and water at a local level without the need for additional regulation. I want the Campaign to be a success and do not believe that Government should need to regulate and impose more red tape; if the farming community can achieve the same results through its own actions. But if the farming community cannot step up and achieve these results voluntarily, the. Government will have to consider a compulsory approach to deliver the same level of environmental benefits.
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