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Executive Summary: This report presents findings of a survey of 529 farms in three English regions – the North East, the South West and the West Midlands, which was conducted as part of NICRE’s broader State of Rural Enterprise Reports (NICRE, 2022). It examines the particular experiences of farms in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic, including their business performance, the strategies they adopted in response to the crisis, and their uptake of external advice and government support measures.\ud The survey was conducted between June and August 2021, and covered over 4,000 businesses across the three regions. While the report concentrates on farm businesses, our findings indicate that farms’ experiences of the pandemic differed considerably from the experiences of their non-farm counterparts. To a degree, it is likely that these differences can be related to wider changes particularly affecting agriculture in this period, including policy reform and new trading arrangements linked to the UK’s exit from the EU and its Common Agricultural Policy.\ud Several headlines emerge from our analysis:\ud - Farm performance was sustained during the pandemic\ud - Farms reported different impacts of the Covid-19 crisis than non-farm businesses\ud - Farms were less likely than rural non-farm businesses and urban businesses to use government Covid-19 related business support schemes\ud - Farms were less likely to access external support or advice for their business during the pandemic\ud - Farms were more likely to draw on family resources to reduce their costs during the crisis\ud - Farms were less likely to view the economic uncertainty linked to Covid as a major obstacle to their success\ud - The majority of respondents managing farms do not engage in formal business planning

LEADER promotes integrated rural Community-Led Local Development with key features of bottom-up and multi-sector approaches, local partnerships and place-based design and delivery, funded through the Common Agricultural Policy (Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013), under a common framework (Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013). This study evaluated LEADER across the EU in the 2014-2020 programming period. Methods included: literature review; major surveys of local action group (LAG) managers, and Managing Authorities; indicator analysis; and in-depth case studies of 36 LAGs and 14 Rural Development Programmes across 10 Member States. The study found LEADER was relevant and effective for local rural development, targeting and achieving economic development, strengthening social fabric and capacity and enhancing local governance, with good coherence alongside other policies. Most LAGs promoted social inclusion in a more limited way, and environmental goals via integration within socio-economic projects or awareness-raising. Tackling rural poverty was not a LEADER priority, but positive impacts were identified in a few case studies. Clear relationships and excellent support from Managing Authorities, also sufficient funds for animation, were crucial to LAG performance. Fuller implementation of LEADER key features positively influenced quality and scope of impacts. Strengthened network support at EU and national levels is recommended, also further simplification to ensure future obligations and conditions are proportionate, especially in cases of multi-funded CLLD where CAP (EARDF) and other ESI funds combine.

The UK Brexit vote triggered a new wave of policy development for a future outside the EU. In that context, this paper presents analysis investigating the business performance of English hill and upland farms, characterised by marginal economic conditions but also high nature value (HNV). The analysis aims to help identify farm-level management and policy options for greater economic, environmental and social sustainability. Business performance is measured as technical efficiency and the occurrence and persistence of abnormal profits, estimated through stochastic frontier analysis and static and dynamic panel-data methods. The results help indicate rationales for recent trends including farm enlargement, farm family diversification, and agri-environment scheme entry. The single farm payment was negatively associated with farms technical efficiency but positively associated to short-term farm profitability. Farm adaptation and resilience during a period of likely turbulence in external circumstances is discussed in light of these findings, as well as potential parallels with marginal HNV areas across Europe.

This study is an evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) impact on\ud balanced territorial development (BTD) of rural areas across EU-28: socio-economic\ud aspects. The main focus of the study is on territorial development of rural areas, which\ud are investigated through the analysis of socio-economic aspects and social inclusion.\ud The evaluation work starts with a causal analysis which intended to scope and select\ud the CAP measures and instruments considered to have a direct impact on the general\ud objective of BTD in rural areas. The work is then articulated around five evaluation\ud criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance, European added value.\ud Several methods have been applied to gather and analyse both quantitative and\ud qualitative information. Sixteen evaluation study questions have been answered by\ud using quantitative methods such as input-output analysis, clustering, and statistical\ud regressions, as well as qualitative methods, including case studies, literature review\ud and the observation of development trends over the programming period.\ud According to the evaluation study findings, the issues and needs faced by rural regions\ud in the EU-28 are significant. The evaluation’s quantitative and case study findings\ud indicate that the impact of the CAP in supporting BTD through the improvement of\ud socioeconomic aspects and social inclusion varies according to the characteristics of\ud the rural region and the policy mix applied. Pillar I instruments, in particular direct\ud payments, have been found to positively impact regional employment and reinvestment. Pillar II measures, some of which are specifically designed to address\ud socio-economic issues, demonstrate also positive effects.

Strengthening the socio-economic fabric of rural areas is a key CAP objective,\ud including generational renewal (GR). This evaluation assessed how the current CAP\ud affects GR in rural Europe, also local development and jobs. It examined Young\ud Farmer (YF) and other CAP measures aiming to attract young people to farm, live and\ud work in rural areas. Methods included literature review, EU survey, interviews and\ud workshops, data analysis using correlation, multicriteria, comparative econometric and\ud CGE modelling, and case studies in seven contrasting Member States (MS). It\ud concluded CAP GR measures have a positive impact on YF numbers, business\ud performance and local employment, varying from very minor to significant according\ud to local context. For Pillar 2 aids, impacts and causes are clear, but it is too early to\ud judge Pillar 1 YF supplements. Aids are most effective and efficient delivered in mixedmeasure packages combining planning, investment, collaboration and advice, and\ud conditional on beneficiary training. Impact is enhanced where institutional and fiscal\ud policies ease access to land and capital. In very marginal areas, aid for rural\ud diversification and services is also vital. The study recommended a more holistic,\ud flexible and strategic approach to GR in the future CAP, also increased MS emphasis\ud upon new entrants, innovation and rural quality of life provision.

This study outlines the current trends and patterns of farming\ud employment in the EU and discusses possible development\ud paths for the European agricultural labour force.\ud In particular, this study investigates the drivers of and structural\ud changes within agricultural labour markets at regional, national\ud and EU level, building on a range of quantitative and qualitative\ud analysis methods.

The changing climate of Wales is likely to have significant direct (e.g. changing land cover) and indirect (e.g. by influencing land use decisions) impacts on landscape character, quality and local distinctiveness. Flooding and drought events, more frequent extreme weather, coastal erosion, wildfires, diseases affecting tree cover and changing land cover, habitats and species ranges are examples of how the landscape may change to a greater or lesser degree, in the short or long term.\ud \ud Landscape character can provide an important communication tool to raise awareness and understanding of the risks and opportunities of climate change because people relate to landscapes as places to live, work and enjoy. It is therefore opportune to bring together information on the impacts from a changing climate and apply them to a landscape perspective.\ud \ud This project is the first step in starting to identify and communicate the direct and indirect impacts of projected climate changes for Wales in 2050 on landscape character and qualities and what that might look like in the landscape we recognise today. This project identifies the impacts of climate change on broad landscape types using the LANDMAP Visual & Sensory spatial dataset. It provides maps that identify the spatial distribution of the broad landscape types supported by key statistics, and offers a series of written narratives of potential change for each landscape type.

New institutional economics, and transaction effects in particular, are highly relevant to public policy performance. The evolution of EU rural development policy has generated both increasing complexity and increased transaction costs. However, this policy evolution also creates opportunities for improvement of policy process management. The paper considers these opportunities in the case of Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) under Pillar 2 of the CAP. We examine the influence of transaction effects on RDP performance, based on direct experience of RDP review and planning in England and Malta, where qualitative evidence of ‘transaction benefits’ is identified. Benefits occur when exchange processes are designed in ways that generate positive returns beyond the immediate transaction, which can outweigh short-term costs. We conclude that more attention to these aspects of policy design is warranted in future rural development programming and evaluation.

The PEGASUS project aimed to identify how to promote enhanced delivery of environmental and social benefits from farming and forestry, across the EU. After three years of investigation and analysis it has distilled a number of lessons for both policy and practice. Policy recommendations are focused upon national and European policy makers and in particular, consider ways to improve the environmental and social outcomes of the new CAP, beyond 2020. These are the subject of another deliverable from the project (D5.4). This deliverable, D5.3, provides a compendium of lessons for practitioners who are interested in seeking to enhance multiple benefits from farming and forestry, within a territory or along a supply chain. Learning from 34 case study examples around Europe (for a full list, see Table 4 in D5.1), and from validation of the case study findings with multiple stakeholders in national and EU-wide seminars and workshops, this report draws together a set of common principles and supporting methods to help local actors. It summarises the wide range of lessons from the project concerning transferable methods for the successful delivery of ‘Public and Ecosystem Goods And Services from farming and forestry; Unlocking Synergies’. It aims to provide a relatively comprehensive analysis of good practice for successful initiatives. Because it is derived from a very broad range of situations and contrasting types of experience, these lessons should be transferable to a wide variety of contexts in Europe.

This report is a think-piece to inform ongoing policy development by the Welsh Government working in partnership with stakeholder groups. It synthesises evidence on the state of agriculture and rural areas in Wales with the available understanding of stages, timing and potential outcomes of the Brexit process, identifying implications and potential priorities.\ud \ud Our scenario analysis suggests that the most likely changes in trading conditions would tend to disadvantage the competitive position of Welsh agriculture vis-à-vis its main current markets and trading competitors (particularly in sheep and beef). Further, we may anticipate generally reduced levels and scope of public funding by comparison with those the sector has enjoyed in recent years. However, within these challenging probable change scenarios, there are opportunities if farm businesses are enabled to respond adaptively.\ud \ud Some farms and sectors face much greater challenges than others, which implies uneven structural change across significant areas:\ud - a decline in the economic viability of sheep production is likely, with these farm businesses especially vulnerable to changes in both market access arrangements and public funding support – this could increase pressure on rural services;\ud - accordingly, north and west Wales are likely to face stronger negative impacts than the south and east, where more potentially positive and diverse impacts can be expected among dairy, horticultural, mixed and other farm types.\ud \ud How key food and forestry processors and retailers respond to the Brexit process, and their willingness to invest in Wales and Welsh products, will be an important factor. Their patterns of operation may change in response to shifting economic and market conditions.\ud \ud Managing the challenges faced is key, to prevent undesirable impacts on natural capital, landscape quality and community identity. Three policy directions are recommended:\ud - Fostering resilience in farm and other land management businesses; supporting successful adaptation, enhanced efficiency, diversification, adding value and inter-generational transfer, as well as some moves from farming into other sectors;\ud - Investing in longer-term partnerships between government, food retailers, rural service providers, and commercial lenders to promote stronger business networks and SME infrastructure across Wales;\ud - Designing a future funding framework to support natural resource management and rural vitality in Wales.

This book presents an overview of CCRI's research activities during 2017.

The broad aim of this research is to provide a study on the impact and added value to farmers when adopting LEAF Marque. It is based on thirty-seven interviews with LEAF Marque certified businesses, interviewed between December 2016 and February 2017. Twenty-five of these interviewees took part as anonymous contributors, while twelve have also prepared case studies. The evidence in the report is in three sections, an overview analysis based on the questionnaire, an analysis of the narratives regarding the benefits of participation and a collection of case studies. More specifically the report focuses on identifying the financial, environmental and social benefits that can be attributed to LEAF Marque, and Integrated Farm Management (IFM) farm practices.

The International Day of Rural Women was celebrated for the first time in 2008.\ud Based on UN resolution 62/136 it recognizes “the critical role and contribution of\ud rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural\ud development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.” In this\ud sense, the Workshop provides an overview of the situation of rural women in\ud Europe and their crucial role in sustainable rural development. It informs about\ud women's engagement in employment, decision-making and rural lives more\ud generally as well as on how to close the gap between men and women\ud regarding equal access to resources and business opportunities. In this respect,\ud the role of funding from the CAP for rural women is also analysed.

This paper provides an approach to serve as a conceptual framework for the PEGASUS project. It reviews the theoretical context, examining the different understandings of public goods and ecosystem services from agriculture and forestry in the scientific and policy literature; bringing them into the more holistic frame of social-ecological systems and using insights from these different understandings to identify key issues, analytical concepts and processes to guide PEGASUS.

The Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire was contracted by North Devon Plus in Autumn 2014 to undertake an update to the 2004 ‘State of Farming’ on Exmoor report. The study was to identify the state of farming in Exmoor - an upland National Park and distinctive, protected landscape - and consider prospects for the future, as well as making recommendations for policy. The study team was guided by a steering group drawn from Exmoor Hill Farming Network (EHFN), Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) and North Devon Plus. Study funding came from ENPA and the Rural Development Programme for England (Defra).

Investing in knowledge to support the adoption of environmentally-friendly farm practices is\ud commonly perceived as a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture. Yet changes at the\ud national and global levels have led to dramatic changes in the orientation of advisory services, how these\ud are organised, and their methods of intervention. This report examines the role, performance and impact\ud of farm advisory services, as well as the training and extension initiatives undertaken in the OECD area to\ud foster green growth in agriculture. The merits of the different types of providers are also discussed and\ud the experience of selected OECD countries presented.\ud Assessing the impact of agricultural advisory services, training and extension measures on green\ud growth involves a range of methodological issues, but for which evaluations of outcomes and assessment\ud of their overall cost-effectiveness is scarce. Nevertheless, a key conclusion of this report is that there is no\ud one-size-fits-all evaluation methodology and that any evaluation of the impact of these measures should\ud take into account all actors that provide agricultural advisory services, training, and extension measures as\ud they are part of a wider agricultural knowledge and innovation system in which multiple stakeholders\ud interact.\ud This report contributes to OECD work on green growth which emphasises the importance of research,\ud development, innovation, education, extension services and information to increase productivity in a\ud sustainable way. This report was prepared by the OECD’s Trade and Agriculture Directorate and was\ud declassified by the OECD Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment in January 2015.\ud Dimitris Diakosavvas was project leader and is the principal author of this report. Chapter 5 draws on\ud background papers prepared by consultants for the five case studies: Bruce Kefford and Clive Noble\ud (Australia); Rivellie Tschuisseu and Pierre Labarthe (Canada), Janet Dwyer and Matt Reed (England and\ud Wales), Dimitris Damianos (Greece) and Brian Bell and Michael Yap (New Zealand). A further paper\ud prepared by Clunie Keenleyside also contributed to the present report. Comments and review from OECD\ud colleagues are also appreciated and acknowledged, including Nathalie Girouard, Justine Garrett and\ud Annabelle Mourougane. Françoise Bénicourt and Theresa Poincet provided invaluable secretarial\ud assistance throughout the production process. The report was prepared for publication by\ud Michèle Patterson, who also co-ordinated its production.

Depuis trente ans, la Politique agricole commune (PAC) a connu des réformes successives visant notamment à justifier les aides publiques versées au secteur agricole. Un des argumentaires aujourd’hui défendu pour légitimer la PAC s’appuie sur la notion économique de « bien public ». L'utilisation de cette notion contribue à remettre en cause le compromis européen fondateur de cette politique, axé historiquement sur la régulation des marchés et le soutien des revenus agricoles. Certains acteurs britanniques (scientifiques, acteurs associatifs…) ont notamment joué un rôle essentiel dans l’introduction de ce terme « bien public » dans les débats communautaires avec, à l’appui, un projet de réforme radicale de la PAC. Ce projet qui, dans le cas anglais, s’est incarné dans une alliance entre environnementalistes et propriétaires fonciers n’a finalement pas été retenu dans la réforme de 2013, qui maintient les aides directes comme principal outil d’orientation de l’agriculture. \ud \ud For thirty years the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has undergone successive reforms, especially to justify agricultural public supports. The main argument to justify the CAP today is based on the economic concept of "public good". Using this concept helps to renew the initial European compromise of this policy based on the regulation of markets and farm income supports. Some British actors have played a vital role in the introduction of the term "public good" in community debates by defending a project of a radical reform of the CAP. This project , which in the case of England, was embodied in an alliance between environmentalists and landowners has finally not been retained in the reform of 2013, which maintains the importance of direct supports as principal tool

Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its evolving role and financial and political significance have long been hot topics among rural stakeholders. This article analyses a ten-country study examining the nature and key points of discussion concerning the new reform of the CAP, finally agreed in September 2013. The study examined stakeholder views on the Commission's November 2010 Communication, the Impact Assessment and the October 2011 draft legislative proposals for the 2014–2020 period. Case-studies for each country and comparative analysis were used to stimulate discussion at an international policy conference in early 2012. The article updates Erjavec et al.'s analysis of the changing discourse in Brussels, contrasting its move from a neoliberal to a more neo-mercantilist position, with the nuanced, heavily path-dependent attitudes and negotiating stances in the Member States, even when key interest groups express consistent views across national boundaries. In this context, we see why what looked from Brussels like a consensus-oriented package still failed to offer a clear way forward for the Council and Parliament. Taking stock in October 2013, we note the outcome – a potentially greener and slightly more cohesion-sensitive policy, with weaker differentiation between its pillars but much increased national differentiation – and its future implications.

There is increasing evidence to show that exposure to nature positively affects health and well-being of individuals in society. This paper is based on the evaluation of Eet Nature Feed Your Senses (LNFYS), an English project to encourage people with disabilities, from areas of high social deprivation, and older people to access and enjoy the natural environment through sensory-rich farm visits. The evidence of positive health and well-being impacts from the project is assessed, and the wider implications for policy and practice are discussed. Qualitative data from 38 follow-up interviews conducted with group leaders one to six months after a visit; testimonies and quotes from visit evaluation forms and letters and comments received by host fanners; and a focus group with 10 group leaders were analysed. The results revealed that enhanced mental well-being and social inclusion were consistently reported as a benefit of the farm visit. Participants particularly referred to the calming impact of the farm environment; an increase in self-esteem and independence; improvements in memory function and reminiscence ability; and increased communication. The paper concludes that whilst there is a clear benefit and demand for such on-farm experiences, in order to secure future funding evidence of their economic impacts and longitudinal follow-up studies of benefits are required.

The overall aim of the project was to develop a workable methodology to monitor the condition of and threat to the archaeological resource on agricultural land in Wales based on the cost–effective use of existing data sources wherever possible.\ud \ud The specific objectives of the project identified by the project brief were to:\ud \ud · Build on the work undertaken by Dwyer et al(2006),Gaskell et al (2007) and Hossell et al (2007) and review existing literature/reports on the likely impacts of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform on the archaeology of Wales.\ud \ud · Build on the work undertaken by DAT (2006) and evaluate the data sources that could provide indicators to monitor the condition of and threat to the archaeological resource.\ud \ud · Design operational indicators to monitor the condition of and threat to the archaeological resource.

Increasingly it is recognised that land management at a landscape‐scale can deliver greater public\ud good benefits than at the individual farm scale. Collective agri‐environment schemes are one mechanism for\ud achieving this land management, but such schemes are in the early stages of development in the UK and\ud uncertainty exists as to their appropriate design and delivery. This paper is based on two research projects\ud undertaken in Wales to identify key factors that might lead to successful agri‐environmental co‐operation. The\ud research involved in‐depth analysis of three existing farmer co‐operatives in Wales, including face to face\ud interviews and participatory workshops. Using the theory of collective action as an analytical framework, the\ud paper identifies key factors that could be used to encourage and enhance the success of co‐operative groups in\ud delivering landscape‐scale schemes. Of importance were: locally adaptable engagement strategies; working\ud with group members previously known to each other; institutional arrangements that limited group size and\ud which allowed groups to develop their own solutions and implementation rules; and external support offering\ud the services of a local facilitator and funding for both planning and management stages. A clear finding from\ud the research was the extent to which both business and social confidence can grow within such groups which\ud opens up further development opportunities. Improving the farming community’s capacity to co‐operate will\ud have far‐reaching benefits for all public good provision and diversification activities.

The Exmoor Mire Restoration Project (EMRP) 2006-2010 aimed to restore the natural hydrology of degraded blanket bogs on Exmoor by blocking up the network of old drainage ditches. This project will shortly finish and funding has been secured from South West Water for a new and larger ‘Mires on the Moors’ project which could potentially rewet up to 2,500 hectares of peatland on Exmoor. The EMRP Steering Group commissioned the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) to undertake an external and independent review of peatland restoration work on Exmoor to help guide future activity.\ud \ud The two main aims of the review were: \ud \ud i) to conduct a review of peatland restoration on Exmoor to date; and\ud \ud ii) to give guidance to the Steering Group on how best to proceed with peatland restoration, while furthering National Park purposes, and having regard to the economic and social well being of the local community.