How agroforestry works with the Basic Payment Scheme

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When the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) was introduced, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) stated that grazed woodland was no longer eligible for payment. However, some agroforestry is allowed under the BPS scheme rules.

This guidance is for farmers and land managers considering planting trees on their agricultural land and makes clear how agroforestry works alongside the BPS rules.

Agroforestry is tree planting that is deliberately combined with agriculture on the same piece of land. It’s an essential connection between agriculture and forestry that could provide you with 2 sources of income from:

your agricultural products (livestock or crops)
any forestry-generated products (sawlogs, fuelwood, fruit and nuts)

Agroforestry also supports a number of goals in the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan and Clean Growth Strategy.

What the BPS rules for 2023 say

The BPS rules for 2023 are clear that land growing some types of tree is eligible for BPS, whatever their density. A number of tree varieties are eligible for BPS in agroforestry systems. See the sections:

‘What land is eligible for BPS’
‘Permanent crops’
‘Short rotation coppice’
‘List of eligible crops’

The scheme rules are clear that land supporting any variety of tree can be eligible if certain conditions are met. The ‘List of Features’ includes the row ‘Trees’ which states:

“Trees are eligible if they are scattered individual trees or lines of trees (maximum 2 trees wide) within an agricultural parcel.

Groups of trees on an agricultural parcel, whether next to a boundary or not, are eligible if:

the area underneath the canopy is used entirely for agricultural activity (such as cultivation or grazing livestock)
more than 50% of the area underneath the tree canopy is covered by grasses, other herbaceous forage or arable land

All other groups of trees are not eligible for agroforestry under BPS.

Areas of land set-aside for woodland creation under agri-environment schemes or a national woodland scheme may be eligible if specific conditions are met. Schemes include:

the National Forest
Changing Landscape Scheme
Woodland Carbon Fund
any Nature4 Climate Fund woodland creation scheme (such as England Woodland Creation Offer)”

If land containing trees meets these criteria, your eligibility for BPS is not affected.

The scheme rules also state that under certain agri-environment and woodland creation schemes, trees may be eligible for BPS. The rules state in the section ‘What land is eligible for BPS’:

“Land is also eligible if it was used to claim for the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in 2008 and has become non-agricultural under certain options in other agri-environment and woodland maintenance agreements and is still covered by those agreements.”

The rules for agricultural land, under the section ‘Applying for BPS on land in agri-environment and woodland schemes’ state:

“Land included in an agri-environment scheme remains eligible for BPS if it continues to be:

‘agricultural’ land (permanent grassland, arable land or permanent crops)
used primarily for an ‘agricultural activity’ throughout the calendar year
at the applicant’s disposal on 15 May 2023

You can still declare under the main BPS land use code for your land parcel:

agri-environment field margins
buffer strips
field corners
beetle banks
other areas not permanently divided from the rest of the land parcel”

The rules for non-agricultural land in the section ‘Non-agricultural land in agri-environment or woodland schemes’ state:

“If the agri-environment or woodland scheme management requirements result in the land being taken out of agricultural use, it will normally become ineligible for BPS from the beginning of the agreement, even if required non-agricultural management activity has not yet started. The land should be declared on the BPS 2023 application under an appropriate non-agricultural land use code.

Exceptionally, land that has been taken out of agricultural use under an agri-environment or woodland scheme will remain eligible for BPS if both conditions 1 and 2 apply:

It was used with entitlements to claim the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in 2008.
It is managed under one of the relevant agri-environment and woodland options. (Refer to the tables in the ‘Non-agricultural land in agri-environment or woodland schemes’ section of the BPS 2023 – scheme rules.) Or it is declared under a nationally funded woodland creation scheme including the National Forest Changing Landscape scheme, the Woodland Carbon Fund, the HS2 Woodland Fund and any Nature for Climate Fund woodland creation scheme (such as the England Woodland Creation Offer).

It only remains eligible for BPS while it remains in the agri-environment or woodland scheme option.”

Types of agroforestry that may be compatible with the BPS scheme rules

While there are a number of agroforestry systems, the following may be compatible with the scheme rules on ‘trees in a line’ and ‘groups of trees’. Where BPS eligibility conditions are met, the associated land will be eligible for BPS payment.

Silvoarable (trees and crops)

Trees that are planted at wide spacings and intercropped with a cereal or bioenergy crop.

Silvopasture (trees and livestock)

Trees that are combined with forage grassland and livestock production.

Riparian forest buffer

Trees that are planted between agricultural land and watercourses such as streams, rivers and lakes to act as buffers to protect the water quality.

Windbreak or shelterbelt

Trees that are planted in a linear format on the edge of a field to reduce wind speed, protect crops and livestock and reduce erosion.

Woodland creation

Agricultural land that is taken out of production and planted with trees for woodland creation under a Rural Development Programme for England or nationally funded scheme may remain eligible for BPS. The eligibility conditions set out in the BPS guidance will need to be met.

Grants that may be available for supporting agroforestry

Countryside Stewardship offers funding to farmers and land managers to protect and enhance the natural environment. Funding is available for a range of land management and capital works including tree and woodland management and planting of new trees.

The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) is a grant scheme, managed by the Forestry Commission. It will help to meet the government’s commitment to at least treble tree planting rates in England by the end of this parliament. EWCO supports a range of woodland creation types including riparian buffer and shelterbelts. See below.

The Nature4Climate fund will develop a new English woodland creation offer, which will aim to streamline and improve the:

Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG)
Woodland Carbon Fund (WCF) (now closed)
Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant (CSWCG) (now closed)

Agroforestry has not been specifically aligned to any of these schemes, but riparian planting already exists as an option in CSWCG to support water objectives.

EWCO and riparian buffers

Additional contributions in EWCO are optional and will be available where the woodland’s location and design will deliver public benefits. One of these is riparian buffers – available where woodland creation with native broadleaved species will improve riverbank habitats. It will provide the dappled shade that will improve aquatic ecology, and benefit wildlife dispersal, for example otter, along the corridors of habitat this creates.

Read about 3D buffer strips, which are designed to deliver more for the environment.

EWCO and shelterbelts

EWCO supports action to address air pollution. Additional points are therefore available for creating shelterbelts designed to capture ammonia emissions from farm sources in locations where there is a potential risk of air pollution affecting a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Here sensitive habitats or species could be impacted by direct toxic effects of ammonia, nitrogen deposition or acidification from ammonia emissions.

Check if you’re eligible to apply

Your application should cover a minimum area of one hectare with individual blocks of at least 0.1 hectare each. Blocks must have a minimum width of 20 metres (with the exception of riparian buffers and shelterbelts, which can have a minimum width of 10 metres).

Read more information about EWCO including how to apply for a grant.

Future environmental land management schemes

Our Environmental Land Management schemes are the base of our new agricultural policy. Environmental land management is founded on the principle of ‘public money for public goods’. You may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering a number of public goods, including mitigation of and adaption to climate change.

Where to find more information

The Farm Woodland Forum aims to facilitate the generation and exchange of information that supports best practice in and improves opportunities for farming with trees.

The Defra farming blog gives you the up-to-date information on Environmental Land Management schemes.

You can also find more information:

Disclaimer

The information contained in this guidance relates and refers to the BPS scheme rules in the BPS rules for 2023. The scheme rules may change, so you should check the BPS rules for 2023 for the most up-to-date guidance.

How agroforestry works with the Basic Payment Scheme

Applies to England

What the BPS rules for 2023 say