Yorkshire Farming and Wildlife Partnership advisers are celebrating half a century working with farmers and landowners in Yorkshire.

Between them, Phil Lyth, Ann Hanson, Claire Foster and Karen Stanley have more than 50 years’ experience providing environmental-based advice to Yorkshire farmers.

All four advisers used to work for the Yorkshire branch of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) until setting up the new business in late 2011, when FWAG went into liquidation.

The team said: “We wanted to continue working as a group to provide good quality independent environmental advice to farmers, and setting up Yorkshire Farming and Wildlife Partnership (YFWP) allowed us to do that.”

The partnership is in its third year and during this time the advisers have been kept busy with a variety of work, ranging from setting up Environmental Stewardship schemes and securing grant funding for individual farmers, to working on projects alongside organisations such as Natural England, Environment Agency, Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale AONB.

One such project is the Upper Aire Habitat and Land Management Improvement Project, which aims to improve the water quality of the River Aire and six tributaries which are currently at risk due to sedimentation from bank erosion and soil run-off.

Farmers in the catchment from Malham to Keighley can receive a free visit from one of the YFWP advisers to identify any issues on the farm and offer practical solutions, and in some cases access capital grant funding. “More than 40 farmers have got involved with the project so far, but at the moment funding is only guaranteed until March 2015, so please contact us sooner rather than later if you are interested”, said Phil Lyth, lead adviser for the project.

A pressing issue affecting all farmers is the onset of the new CAP greening rules. A number of factors are still to be confirmed by Defra later in the summer but the Partnership is urging farmers to start planning now. “The rules will take effect for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme claim year so it is imperative that farmers plan their crop rotations and Ecological Focus Areas now in time for the 2014 drilling season. We can provide a short advisory visit to help farmers work through the implications on their own farms” said Claire.

“The rules will not just affect arable farmers. Temporary grass is defined as arable land under the BPS so dairy farmers in particular will also need to check whether they are subject to crop diversification and EFA requirements.”

There will also be a number of changes to Cross Compliance from 2015. Notably, the Soil Protection Review will be removed, and replaced with 3 new soil management rules, relating to soil cover, organic matter and erosion risk. “From 2015 the booklet is being scrapped, but farmers will need to demonstrate good soil management through the new GAECs 4-6”, explained Karen. “Cross Compliance can be a minefield but we are able to go through the RPA inspection guidance with farmers and check everything is in order”.

The YFWP advisers are also keeping up to speed with the New Environmental Land Management Scheme (NELMS), which will replace Environmental Stewardship in 2015. Existing ELS (including organic and uplands) and HLS agreements will run to the end of their term, but farmers and landowners may find they cannot go straight into a NELMS agreement after their current scheme expires.

“Natural England have released draft targeting maps showing where they plan to focus NELMS, for priorities such as farmland birds, biodiversity, woodland creation, flood alleviation and water quality. The maps are undergoing local validation and are available to view on the Natural England website”, said Ann.

Farmers seeking advice on the CAP greening rules and other environmental matters can contact one of the Yorkshire Farming and Wildlife Partnership advisers on the numbers below. Full contact details and further information is available at www.farmingandwildlife.net