Farmers paid to protect nature in dramatic overhaul of subsidies scheme
From planting wildflowers and new hedgerows to tackling crop pests without pesticides, farmers will now be paid for 280 different measures to protect Britain’s natural world, which provides food, water and habitats.
The long-awaited overhaul of farming subsidies has been hailed as a “genuine benefit of Brexit” and broadly welcomed by farmers and green groups.
The voluntary scheme replaces a European Union regime that based payments on the amount of land farmed, meaning sometimes big pay-outs for wealthy land-owners rather than struggling farmers.
The government says the money will help farmers in England to produce food in a less environmentally damaging way.
It has now opened up £1bn of the £2.4bn annual agriculture budget for nature-friendly farming.
The UK ranks among the worst countries globally for the state of its life-sustaining plants and wildlife, with some 71% of its land taken up by agriculture.
The Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said farmers “are at the heart of our economy – producing the food on our tables as well as being the custodians of the land it comes from”.
“These two roles go hand-in-hand and we are speeding up the rollout of our farming schemes so that everyone can be financially supported as they protect the planet while producing food more sustainably.”
Environmentalist and columnist George Monbiot called the new system the “one genuine benefit of Brexit”. If successful, it could become a template for reform across the EU, whose system is a “disaster”, he wrote on Twitter.
The new measures alone will not be sufficient to ensure the UK meets all its climate and nature targets, with green groups saying it is a small step in the right direction of a very long road.
Just last week, the environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, slammed the government for falling short on almost every measure.
The UK is among the most nature-depleted countries globally. It devotes 71% of land to farming. Pic: AP
The subsidies have been brought forward by a year as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), part of the government’s environmental land management (ELM) schemes.
Three more standards that had been planned for 2024 will be introduced a year early, to subsidise the rewilding of grassland and the introduction of bird food, wildflowers and buffer strips of uncultivated land on arable and horticultural land.
Kitty Hamilton, a mixed farmer from east Lincolnshire, said the SFI pilot protected her farm’s income while it gradually moved to more sustainable practices.
She said: “The pilot fits well with our current and planned farming methods, which means it’s gently nudging us towards a more regenerative system.
“The fact that we can layer the standards, and use all of the land on the estate, means that we can generate a good income.”
A total of 30 new grants will also be added to the more ambitious Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which rewards sustainable practices such as managing floodplain meadows, eradicating the use of insecticides, restoring peatland, maintaining drystone walls and preserving cliff habitats.
Government should be ‘more radical’
Farmers, who must plan well ahead, have welcomed the “clarity we have been asking for”.
David Exwood, vice president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “For farmers and growers making crucial long-term decisions that are essential to running viable and profitable food-producing businesses, it’s vital they have the full scheme details as soon as possible and know how the different schemes will work together.”
But the process must work quickly and be available to all types of farm, he cautioned.
Click to subscribe to ClimateCast wherever you get your podcasts
However, the Soil Association accused ministers of doing little more than “tinkering around the edges” when “radical changes” are needed.
“We are facing a climate emergency and ecological collapse… Government must provide the long-term vision to help farmers do more than make small changes,” Head of Farming Policy Gareth Morgan said.
“They need a package of guidance and incentives that spark a shift to nature-friendly farming across their entire farms.”
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.
All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
Read more from Sky News:
Pro-Palestine Australians protest after week of tension with Israel
‘I’m deprived of my UK citizenship but I’m not a convicted terrorist’
Ghislaine Maxwell was given ‘platform to rewrite history’, say Giuffre’s family
In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024