The Environment Secretary has today announced that the Payment by Results (PBR) project will be the first agri-environment scheme directly funded by the UK.

In future, all the funding for the Payment by Results (PBR) pilot will come from Defra, with a £540,000 boost announced today to pay farmers according to the environmental outcomes they achieve over the next two years.

The project is paying participating farmers in two areas – Norfolk and Suffolk in the East of England and Wensleydale in Yorkshire – for work that is specifically tailored to the environmental needs of their area. For example, in Norfolk and Suffolk farmers are benefitting from planting nectar plots for bees and other pollinators, while those in Wensleydale are focused on managing species-rich meadows.

Today’s announcement follows the government’s public consultation on future farming policy which set out plans to move towards a system where farmers are paid according to the public goods they provide.

As we leave the EU, there will be further trialling work to reach a model where profitable farm businesses and environmental land management can co-exist and complement one another.