Attached below is a letter from the Rt Hon George Eustice MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, launching the pilot of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. 

The Sustainable Farming Incentive is the first in a package of environmental land management schemes. The three schemes will pay farmers to improve the environment, improve animal health and welfare, and reduce carbon emissions. Through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, farmers will be paid for environmentally sustainable actions.

The Government will start to pilot the Sustainable Farming Incentive this year with an initial group of several hundred farmers. They will receive payments through the pilot scheme based on existing rates from Countryside Stewardship.

You can read the full letter below and find out more about the pilot scheme here.