Countryside Stewardship Scheme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total area of land was in (a) entry-level agreements, (b) mid-tier countryside stewardship agreements, (c) higher tier countryside stewardship agreements and (d) higher-level stewardship schemes in each year since 2022.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Total area of land covered by Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreements:
For Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 453,789
2023 - 513,288
2024 - 603,626
2025 - 574,676
For Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier (hectares) the figures were:
2022 - 459,334
2023 - 567,482
2024 - 660,535
2025 - 594,952
For Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 70,729
2023 - 63,163
2024 - 53,832
2025 - 51,792
For Entry Level plus Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 - 975,307
2023 - 851,967
2024 - 683,271
2025 - 633,248
For Organic Entry Level plus Higher Level Stewardship (hectares), the figures were:
2022 – 63,240
2023 – 44,548
2024 – 22,874
2025 - 19,736
Please note the following points:
- Year dates have been taken, as the agreement not being closed as of 01st Jan of each year
- The sum of each area-based revenue option capped at parcel total area has been used to calculate areas
- Note also that Rotational Options have not been included for either scheme
- Different agri-environment schemes and types of agreement can be carried out on the same physical piece of land, so the columns should not be summed
- These figures are estimates based on the available data
- The numbers provided here do not match previously published figures from FCP on area under agri-environment schemes in England in 2024, due to slight differences in date and methodology, particularly around rotational options
- The numbers provided here do not match figures from Agriculture in the UK due to methodological differences.
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