A market opportunity for farmers and landowners is emerging from new planning rules requiring developers to improve biodiversity. Expected to be mandatory
Submitting.
“Applied across a national scale, there is scope to deliver more than £60m of income to the farming community through carbon credits for hedgerow management and planting,” he said.
Dr Leake explained that hedgerows sequester carbon at twice the rate of woodland because of their three-dimensional structure adding that England’s hedges already store nine million tonnes of carbon.
The Code will include a tool which will enable the carbon stored in a hedge to be calculated and verified, “incentivising” land managers to plant and manage hedgerows which will be a key part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, one of three schemes which makes up the new ‘public money for public goods’ Environment Land Management Scheme.
FARMING: Calls made in parliament to protect farming homes in Cumbria CONSULTATIONS have dominated the first three months of the year. Red Tractor, livestock transportation and TB eradication have all been running at the same time and I know there have been others that have been issued by Defra and other organisations. Consultation is vital to ensure that every farmer has an opportunity to give their views on what is being proposed, and that the organisation asking for farmers’ views listens to what is said. Many members often ask me why they need to respond to a consultation as they feel those asking never listen to them anyway or they feel the NFU should do it on their behalf as part of the subscription.