Legislation was passed by MLAs at Stormont on Monday which will allow DAERA to launch a Farming with Nature (FwN) transition scheme in June.

FwN is to be the Department’s replacement for the Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS), although in 2025 the first phase is limited to actions such as hedgerow planting, creating and repairing buffer strips and farmland tree planting. A second phase of FwN will look at landscape projects involving groups of farmers, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir told MLAs on Monday.

He also confirmed that funding of £4.8m will be available for the scheme this year and that there will be an annual cap of £9,500 per farm, with farmers able to apply every year.

“The scheme will be run for two years initially, and we will then review it before considering any further roll out,” said Minister Muir. “My ambition for the FwN package is to scale up nature-friendly farming, with all farmers being rewarded for delivering environmental public goods alongside important food production.”