Increased Countryside Stewardship payment rates revealed for 2023
Updated Countryside Stewardship (CS) payment rates have been revealed by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), increasing by 10% on average.
The revised rates apply to new and existing Mid- and Higher-Tier agreements from 1 vorJanuary 2023, with Defra also making an adjustment for CS revenue options and capital items in recognition of the impacts that rising costs are having on farmers.
Find more information about the new CS revenue payment rates on the GOV.UK website.
The majority of capital rates are being increased, with new rates announced on 5 January applying to new applicants and those with agreements which started on or after 1 January 2023.
Capital items in agreements starting from 1 January 2023 onwards will be increased where the rates have been revised up.
This includes capital items in CS revenue agreements, Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pilot agreements, and standalone CS capital grants. Where rates have decreased this will not be applied to existing agreements.
Applications received from January 2023 onwards will be subject to the new capital payment rates whether they have increased or decreased.
Further details on the new capital payment rates are available on the GOV.UK website.
Author
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.