Farmers will see an even three-way funding split between the UK's future farming schemes from 2028, the government has confirmed.
The new Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery Schemes will help farmers deliver environmental projects.
It is the most significant change to UK farming and land management in over five decades.
Defra Secretary George Eustice shared new information on the schemes during a speech at the Groundswell agriculture show on Friday (25 June).
Mr Eustice confirmed that from 2028, there would be an even-split of funding between the future farming schemes.
“We envisage that it'll be roughly a three way split in the budget, between these three types of schemes," he said.
"It's also important to note that we don't see these schemes as being like the old EU pillar structure, where a budget was trapped in one pillar and could not be transferred.
"We see these schemes complementing one another and there being a continuum of objectives throughout”.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to regenerative farming in developing future policy, with the aim that 70% of farms will take part in environmental land management schemes by 2028.
The Environment Secretary added that regenerative techniques would be further encouraged by the government’s new agri-environmental schemes.
Examples include topsoil regeneration, the use of winter cover crops, integrated pest management and cultivating crops alongside rearing livestock to fertilise the soil.
Mr Eustice said: “Everyone recognises that we need to change our approach to tackle the environmental challenges both on climate change, but also on biodiversity.
"Leaving the EU gives us a great opportunity to show the world how we can do this, through a seven year transition to reorder farming incentives so that we support a regenerative agriculture."
The government is set to publish an update to the Agricultural Transition Plan next week, covering plans for an early rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in 2022.
What are the UK's new farming schemes?
The Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery Schemes will help producers deliver green goals.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive will reward actions taken at farm level to support sustainable approaches to farm husbandry to deliver for the environment.
These include actions to improve soil health and water quality, enhance hedgerows and promote integrated pest management.
Meanwhile, the Local Nature Recovery scheme will pay for actions that support local nature recovery and deliver local environmental priorities.
It will continue to be developed this year through tests and trials, with further piloting starting next year, and will be focused on delivering the 'right things in the right places'.
This will factor in the views of local people and local nature recovery strategies being developed under the Environment Bill.
Landscape and ecosystem recovery will be delivered through the final scheme, the Landscape Recovery Scheme.
These will be long-term land use change projects to restore, where appropriate, wilder landscapes, large-scale tree-planting and peatland restoration.
Proposals include consideration of applications for sites of an unprecedented scale – between 500 and 5,000 hectares.
The agreements and payments will be bespoke and long term, the government says, with engagement to start this summer.
