Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
Minister , has announced his intention
to roll out the first phase of the Farming with Nature (FwN)
Package, during today's Balmoral Show.
The FwN Package aims to support farm businesses across all land
types, to make substantial contributions to environmental
improvements and sustainability. The Package will roll out
in phases and it is anticipated that the first phase, the FwN
Transition Scheme, will commence in June 2025, subject to
legislation.
Speaking of the announcement, Minister Muir said: “The
Farming with Nature Package is one of the key priorities within
my Department's Sustainable Agriculture Programme and I am
delighted to start the roll out of the Package, starting with the
FwN Transition Scheme in June 2025.
“My ambition for the FwN Package is to scale up nature
friendly farming. I want to see farmers being rewarded for
delivering environmental public goods, alongside food production,
with the FwN Package becoming a strong and attractive enterprise
on farms. It will be introduced in phases to support
farmers to turn the tide on biodiversity loss by increasing the
quantity, quality and connectivity of habitats in the farmed
landscape.”
The FwN Transition Scheme aims to increase the extent of habitats
on farmed land across Northern Ireland. The actions
available will create new habitats, provide new green
infrastructure, protect watercourses and contribute to carbon
sequestration on farms.
In the first year, five actions will be available, with a range
of items to support their implementation:
- Planting new hedgerow
- Creation of riparian buffer strips
- Farmland tree planting
- Retention of winter stubble
- Multi-species winter cover crop
It is proposed to build on this first phase with an expanded
scheme opening for applications again in 2026.
Participation in 2025 will not exclude entry in 2026.
It is planned that the FwN Transition Scheme will be followed by
the FwN Landscape Projects, which is in development and will
focus on supporting groups of farmers to deliver landscape scale
environmental improvement. Additional phases of FwN will
focus on delivering environmental actions in priority habitat
areas and protected sites.
The FwN Package is being developed through close engagement with
external and internal stakeholders. A forum for key
stakeholders from the agricultural industry and environmental
sector was formed in June 2024 to provide input into the Package
development.
Notes to editors:
-
-
DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP) (formerly the
Farm Support and Development Programme) is being co-designed
with the Northern Ireland agricultural industry and other key
food and environmental stakeholders.
-
The overall aim is to transition to a more sustainable
farming sector by seeking to implement policies and
strategies that benefit Northern Ireland's climate and
environment, while supporting its economically and socially
significant agriculture sector.
-
The main source of funding for the SAP is the NI Executive
Earmarked Agriculture Budget (£329.4m for 2025/26).
-
The main source of funding for the Farming with Nature
Transition Scheme will be from DAERA Capital funds.
-
Further information on Sustainable Agriculture Programme can
be found at: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/topics/sustainable-agriculture-programme.
