Payments to farmers for leaving land uncultivated as a habitat for wildlife are to be brought back under proposals to be announced today by the environment secretary, Hilary Benn.
The "set aside" scheme was in effect abandoned two years ago when the European commission announced that the percentage of land that had to be left uncultivated would be zero. The decision was prompted by widespread flooding during that summer, and high global food prices, which had sparked riots in some countries.
Environmental groups warned at the time that the scheme had been a boon for wildlife, especially birds, which had unexpectedly benefited from what the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds described as "a giant bird-table for many species", and a refuge from farm machinery.
Within months of the scheme being abandoned the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said its annual survey of farmers showed the amount of arable land left uncultivated was expected to halve from its previous level of nearly 400,000 hectares, prompting widespread concern, although conservation experts say it is too soon to see any actual impact of the decision, which only came into effect last year.
The system of paying farmers to set aside land from production was introduced in the late 1980s to discourage over-production which had led to mountains of surplus farm produce, and caused prices of some commodities to crash. Late last year Benn got agreement from fellow European ministers that individual countries could pay farmers to restore some set-aside land.
In a speech to the National Farmers' Union conference in Birmingham where the move will be announced, he is expected to go further and set out more detailed proposals for consultation. "Set-aside delivered important environmental benefits and over time these benefits will be vital to maintaining levels of production," he is expected to say.
The move looks set to receive a hostile welcome from farmers, who will warn that it will cost money and jobs at a critical time for the British economy.
In an attempt to head off the controversy, Benn is expected to propose two options: one a mandatory minimum level of set-aside land with incentives for bigger areas, and another which would be "wholly voluntary".
"I welcome the idea of a voluntary scheme, led by the industry, if we can be sure that it will delivery," he will say.
However, the NFU president, Peter Kendall, told the Guardian the continuing decline of farm birds showed set-aside was not the main factor, and the government should work with farmers to improve existing environmental schemes for cropped land. Warning that no new money was expected to be available to pay farmers for the loss of income from crops, Kendall said: "If you take 5% of my farm out of production it would be like closing down a factory for two and a half weeks a year. We'll lose out financially ... that will mean less export, less to put into processing, [and] less work, all at the time we want to be putting all the emphasis we can on the economy."
Although the UK is small in global terms, in years of bad harvests UK consumers would be more vulnerable to world food prices, said Kendall. "The next time we have a spike [in prices] like last year, there's less land available; it's a difficult balancing act."
A new form of set-aside is likely to be welcomed by many wildlife groups. The British Trust for Ornithology said recent research had shown a "hungry gap" when farmland birds were finding it hard to find seed in the two months after farmers began to plough their fields in mid February. "It's that hungry gap we're most concerned about: something that would fill that gap would be great as far as the birds would be concerned," said Paul Stancliffe, a BTO ornithologist.
Skylarks, yellowhammer, linnets and stone curlews are among the species the RSPB is most worried would suffer from the loss of set-aside. They are on a list of farmland birds the government monitors every year, most of which have been declining almost consistently since 1970.
Other populations which have more than halved since the UK record began include grey partridge and turtle dove. These trends will be made worse by the loss of uncropped land where birds could feed and hide from farm machinery, says the RSPB.
In the UK, other species which benefited from set-aside included woodlarks and tree sparrows, says the charity. In mainland Europe species said to have thrived thanks to the scheme include the little bustard in France, corn buntings in Denmark and birds of prey in Austria. Some birds in the UK have increased since the 1970s, namely stock doves, wood pigeons, goldfinch, greenfinch and jackdaws.
Kendall is expected to use his speech to the conference to reiterate calls for an ombudsman to protect farmers from the growing pressure of supermarkets to cut prices. Pressure was growing, especially on thousands of suppliers of horticulture such as fruit and vegetables, because they often had direct relationships with the big food retailers, said Kendall. The loss of two dairy producers a day has also been blamed on price cutting by the big supermarkets.
The EU should ban imports of farm products which do not meet the environmental and animal welfare standards set for its own farmers, said Kendall. He also wants more trials of genetically modified crops, and for ministers to lead a campaign to persuade the public that some GM crops are safe to grow.