How will the Minister ensure that proper advice, monitoring and assessment will be available to farmers ahead of the implementation of the sustainable farming scheme?
We will provide support through training and farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing and innovation through a new Farming Connect programme which will include a redesigned advisory service. This will ensure the advice provided to farmers meets future needs. I have committed to making monitoring and assessment processes as efficient as possible for the farmer by increasing the use of self-monitoring, encouraging the use of new technology and re-using data where it is already being captured. I will consult on our final proposals to introduce the Sustainable Farming Scheme in 2023.