Organic farming and agri-environmental stewardship schemes in Devon

Summary

A postal survey was undertaken in North Devon looking at entry into England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) environmental schemes in relation to farming system and markets. The main survey was based in and around the North Devon Biosphere reserve. Significantly more farms replied who had Countryside Stewardship (CSS) agreements than from those who were not in the scheme. There was a greater likelihood of small farms joining CSS as were beef, sheep and cereal farms compared with dairy farms. A greater percent of organic farms had CSS agreements compared with the conventional farms. A smaller telephone survey in a CSS target area in South Devon was also undertaken which confirmed these results. Those farms with CSS agreements were more likely to have joined or be joining the new agri-environmental schemes.