Hedges seem to be in the news a lot at the moment. This time of year is often a time of heightened alert from the public in relation to hedgerow works impacting on bird nesting.
See recent article HERE which relates to a hedgerow removed during bird nesting season in Oxfordshire as part of infrastructure development.
BBC article about Bristol Water laying hedges to improve biodiversity around their site at Blagdon Lake in Somerset.
CLICK HERE to head to the article.
Defra have just released information about the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 offer. Please CLICK HERE to head to the blog in full.
Key bits relevant to hedgerows are as below:
Reasons for the removal of these funded items were given as below:
“CHRW1 has very high uptake, but it is being removed because it does not deliver direct environmental benefits and therefore gives very low value for money. CHRW3 also has very high uptake and low value for money. The removal of CHRW3 means we will no longer pay specifically for the maintenance of existing hedgerow trees (which gives limited additional environmental benefit because most farmers maintain these trees anyway). However, farmers will still be able to manage hedgerows through CHRW2, which is being retained. There are capital grants (BN11 and TE1) which pay for the creation of new hedgerows, and the planting of new hedgerow trees.”
The Sustainable Farming Scheme will begin 1 January 2026. The Sustainable Farming Scheme – Universal Layer: Guidance 2026 has been published in advance of the scheme start.
CLICK HERE to find out more
A new piece of research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal for Applied Biology looks into the effects of hedgerow management on bat numbers using them.
Bats, being insectivores, are reliant on large numbers of insects such as midges, mosquitos and moths being present in the farmed landscape, which they generally catch on the wing.
They can roost in hedgerow trees and use well connected hedgerows with hedgerow trees to commute and forage.
This research suggests that bat numbers are increased with hedgerows that:
These findings add weight to past research which has suggested similar findings relating to hedgerow management for bats.
For the full article CLICK HERE
A recent ENDS Report article reports that a senior Defra has told MPs that the government’s revised offer for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) could see payments for hedgerows reduced in favour of “higher value for money” environmental outcomes.
The following text is taken from the ENDS Report article.
“Miles [Emily Miles] also said that the review of SFI was considering the value for money of the scheme’s hedgerow support.
“One of the things we’re looking at is where has been our highest spend on the actions, and where do we get the best value for money,” she said.
Miles highlighted “herbal lays”, “winter bird food on arable and horticultural land”, “legume fallow”, and “no use of insecticide on arable crops” as all having “good value for money assessments”.
But she continued that “for hedgerows, we consider it to be slightly lower value for money than some of the other work that we’ve done. So we’d be wanting to assess whether that was done in the same proportion or with the same price point in the future scheme”.
“[We’re] looking at every single action, looking at their value for money, looking at what the payment rate should be to incentivise the right kind of take up. We do think that hedgerows make a significant difference to net zero, to pollinators, so we do think they’re part of it, but there are some other actions that are higher value for money in terms of environmental outcomes,” she said.“
For the full article please see the ENDS Report article page here (sign-up required).
Defra have offered a one-year extension to 2021 Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier Agreements.
Within Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier Agreements, land managers can apply for a variety of grants relating to hedgerows including the below:
Relating to hedgerows, available grants include but are not limited to the below:
For more info on the extension see Defra’s recent blog post.
After a fast uptake of the offer, the Capital Grant offer has now been closed for 2025 due to full allocation of funds.
Over 8,000 applications were submitted in less than 5 weeks.
For more information CLICK HERE
DAERA have revealed plans for their new Farming with Nature Transition Scheme.
Within the scheme, farmers will be able to apply for funding for planting hedgerows at £6.49 per metre. Protective fencing to support establishment available at £6.52 per metre.
For more information CLICK HERE
New report from the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales.
This report on hedgerows was written in reponse to submissions received in 2021 primarily concerning the efficacy of the Hedgerow Regulations 1997.
There were also concerns over the use of bird-deterrent netting of hedgerows.
The IEPAW obtained evidence at a panel discussion held at the Royal Welsh Show in July 2022 and in response to a Call for Evidence issued in August 2022.
To address the issues raised the report:
To read the full report CLICK HERE!
After a period of uncertainty, last week Defra announced that it is reopening it’s Capital Grants scheme in England, committing £150 million to the pot for this coming year (2025/2026).
Capital Grants can be used to deliver standalone improvements or to complement existing Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship (CS) or Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements.
Relating to hedgerows, available grants include but are not limited to the below:
Of note for large hedgerow projects, this year, capital grants relating to boundaries, trees and orchards will have a cap of £35,000 per application.
For more information head to Defra’s blog post where they announced the news last week.
The Leek Wootton and Guys Cliffe Environment Group have just published their Parish’s hedgerow survey!
The purpose of the study was to:
· Provide up to date information and data on the condition and number of native field hedgerows in the Parish of Leek Wootton and Guys Cliffe.
· Increase awareness of these important local wildlife habitats.
· Promote discussions about their value and future.
For the summary article CLICK HERE
For the full article on their website CLICK HERE
Just released – this new video showcases Chris Gardner, hedge contractor and vice-chair of the National Association of Agricultural Contractors, as he shares practical tips and insights on how sympathetic hedge cutting can benefit both the environment and the farmer.
The Nature Friendly Farming Network are calling for interim farm support following the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
For more information CLICK HERE
The RPA have released the results of the consultation that took place late last year (between 29 October and 10 December 2024), about their regulatory approach to enforcing The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024.
175 farmers, stakeholders, NGOs and members of the public took part in the consultation. A full run down of the consultation is available on the Government’s website.
The RPA summarised the consultation results in a recent blog post. For the full article – CLICK HERE