Catchment Sensitive Farming

This document describes an evaluation of the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) program, which is designed to encourage environmentally friendly farming practices to enhance water quality and wildlife conservation. The evaluation employed a mix of methods, including pollutant modeling, water quality monitoring, and ecological assessments. Results show that CSF has led to a notable reduction in pollutants and has positively impacted ecological communities, although improvements in water quality typically have a three-year lag time. The program has also yielded additional ecosystem service benefits. Key to the success of CSF is effective farmer engagement and the delivery of personalized advice, which has resulted in a high rate of implementation of recommended practices. Challenges remain in linking advice to environmental outcomes and considering external factors. The evaluation concludes that CSF has significantly contributed to achieving water quality targets, particularly in smaller streams, and has improved ecological status and groundwater quality. Farmer awareness and engagement are essential for the program's effectiveness, with a marked increase in awareness over time. This document represents the final report in a series on CSF, summarizing the outcomes and providing recommendations. **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: No other departments listed
• Evaluation types: Impact evaluation
• Impact methods: Theory-based methods
• Theory-based methods: Simulation modelling
• 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: June 2019

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

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