Natural England

Natural England offers free land management advice to farmers, advisers and others on a range of environmental and related topics. This service is provided through farm walks, workshops, farm visits and a range of other means. Advice is currently given under five different programmes, each focused regionally to meet local needs:

• Conservation Advice
• Environment Sensitive Farming (ESF)
• Single Payment Scheme Cross Compliance (SPS)
• Farm Demonstration
• England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative (ECSFDI)

For enquiries concerning farm advice please contact your local Natural England office.

Conservation advice

This programme is designed for those wishing to understand Environmental Stewardship better, and how to manage their land better for special wildlife, landscape and historical features, or public access. FWAG and ADAS arrange a series of farm walks and workshops in each Region on behalf of Natural England. These events cover Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS). Details of the timing and nature of activities (and how to book) are available on the regional links below.

Environment Sensitive Farming

This programme is designed to provide information and training on how to keep farm pollution to a minimum and to meet the requirements of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) and the Agriculture Waste Regulations. Farm walks, workshops and conferences are run by ADAS on behalf of Natural England for farmers and their advisers to promote pesticide, nutrient, farm manure, waste and soil management practices that protect soil and minimise pollution of air and water. The service also provides PLANET (farm nutrient management software) workshops and helpline 0845 6023864. Details of the timing and nature of activities (and how to book) are available on the regional links below. See also www.environmentsensitivefarming.co.uk

Single Payment Scheme (SPS) Cross compliance

This programme is designed to provide advice to help Single Payment Scheme claimants meet cross compliance requirements. Walks and on-farm workshops are run by Momenta on behalf of Natural England to provide clear advice to farmers and their advisers and agricultural contractors on what the Statutory Management Requirements and General Agricultural and Environmental Conditions requirements are and how to meet them. Details of the timing and nature of activities (and how to book) are available on the regional links below. A confidential technical helpline is also available on 0845 345 1302, and the answers to Frequently asked questions may be found on www.crosscompliance.org.uk

Farm Demonstration

This programme provides advice through demonstrating sustainable land management practices on farms. It is designed to help deliver the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food. A wide range of different activities are currently carried out under this flexible programme, designed to help farmers and other land managers meet the needs of the future. It show cases many innovative practices. Current demonstrations include biomass and bio-energy production, energy and water efficiency, carbon audits, marketing produce for local consumption, providing facilities to increase public access to farms and helping to improve understanding of the links between farming, food and the environment. Details of the timing and nature of activities (and how to book) are available through the regional links below.

England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative (ECSFDI)

Following consultations between Defra, the Environment Agency (EA) and the Natural England partnership (NE), the Minister, Elliot Morley, has approved proposals for delivery of a new advice programme in England to reduce the pollution of surface-water bodies caused by farming operations. This initiative, currently planned to run for two years but likely to continue after that, will be part of the national response to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and will contribute towards achieving Natura 2000 objectives and the SSSI PSA target. From April 2006 a new advice programme will provide a dedicated network of expert advisers (Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers - CSFOs) who will be on hand to help farmers tackle the causes of harmful water pollution. The programme will also provide support for associate catchments (outside of the 40 priority catchments), where similar and high quality catchment projects are in progress.

All advice activities are co-ordinated regionally by Natural England project managers for farm advice (PMFAs). Land management advise events can be found through the regional links below or clicking the map above.

Region	Contact	Direct dial
East of England	Nicola Newell	01223 533412
East Midlands	Jonathan Marsden	01433 659378
North East	Sue Harrison	0191 229 3074
North West	Alex Lowe	01270 754127
South East	Geoff Newsome	01233 811268
South West	Dave Crabb	01823 281814
West Midlands	Steve Bellingham	01905 362988
Yorkshire and the Humber	David Stirling	01609 767428