Making diversity count
The Oxford Farming Conference is an excellent way to start the New Year. Its inspiring speakers and the opportunity to chat to some of the best and brightest brains in British agriculture really helped to kick start 2024 for me. That boost is much needed, because this is going to be the year when natural capital really takes off.
The Power of Diversity was the theme of this year’s conference and speaker after speaker told of the importance of diversity in cropping, in business thinking, in the natural environment, in markets for UK produce, in our diets and in the people we work with. It is often noted that nature doesn’t do monocultures, yet a combination of factors have led us into a situation where they have become the norm: one of the most startling slides shown at the conference illustrated how just 10 food companies control hundreds of brands, giving an illusion of choice.
Increasing diversity on the land and in business can be difficult. It may force us out of our comfort zones and require us to experiment with new ways of working. The results might be unpredictable, but they might also lead us to new solutions and even new paradigms.
In terms of natural capital, January 2024 will finally see the introduction of statutory Biodiversity Net Gain in England and the establishment of a widespread market in ecosystem services, with the private sector able to pay land managers to deliver biodiversity. We will learn much more about how the contracts will work, whether conservation covenants will have a place and, of course, how the market values different kinds of biodiversity gain in different places.
In terms of public funding, Defra Secretary of State Steve Barclay used the Oxford event to announce an Update to the Agricultural Transition Plan, with increased payment rates for some SFI and Countryside Stewardship measures. The maintenance, as well as the creation of diversity is to be rewarded: for example there will be new payments for agroforestry maintenance later this year, while existing payments for the maintenance of species-rich grassland are to increase from £182 to £646 per ha. The full list of proposed and existing measures can be found in the Technical Annex: The combined environmental land management offer on the GOV.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-transition-plan-2021-to-2024/technical-annex-the-combined-environmental-land-management-offer).
Here’s hoping that 2024 is the year when we really start to make diversity count.
Kate Russell
Chief Operating Officer
5th January 2024