Environmental Impact of Agri-Environment Support for Organic Farming

This document describes an evaluation of the effects of organic farming practices within the Countryside Stewardship agri-environment scheme on soil quality and landscape characteristics. The study compared organic with conventional farming systems, assessing aspects such as soil properties, vegetation, water erosion, and soil biota through statistical analysis, metabarcoding, and field surveys. Results showed that organic farming led to higher vegetation cover and better watercourse protection, with some differences in bacterial populations, but no significant change in worm populations or landscape structure. The study suggests the usefulness of genetic markers in identifying organic practices and acknowledges limitations like sample size. Recommendations for future research include more comprehensive soil assessments. The findings aim to guide future monitoring of agri-environment schemes and inform the new Environmental Land Management Scheme. The evaluation also touches on the challenges of data collection, the role of landscape connectivity, and the potential for using remote sensing in erosion assessment, emphasizing the importance of sustainable farming for environmental health. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

• Lead department: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Evaluation stage: A complete evaluation report
• Other departments: Home Office (Home Office)
• Evaluation types: Impact evaluation
• Impact methods: Theory-based methods
• Theory-based methods: Other
• Grant information: This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
• Government Major Project information: This intervention is not a major project
• Policies: No policies provided

Event Dates

• Event Name: Publication of final results
• Event date: March 2021

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

• Link(s) to published report(s): Yes
• Links to evaluation plans: No link provided
• Findings: Not provided
• Permission to share confirmed: Yes