6557 - Farm Advice: Catchment Sensitive Farming in Crewe

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

• Recovering Nature - Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
• Building Better Places - Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
• Improving Health and Wellbeing - Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
• Delivering Security through Nature - Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Job description

The Role

Natural England (NE) delivers a wide range of farm advice, including the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme. Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) is a partnership programme between NE, Defra, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission. CSF provides advice to farmers to reduce diffuse water and air pollution from agriculture as well as to reduce natural hazards (floods) and support farms through agricultural transition. CSF operates through a network of locally based farm advisers (CSF farm advisers) and partner organisations to deliver Defra’s 25-year plan ambitions for water quality, air quality (ammonia) and sustainable water management through nature-based solutions.

The primary focus of the role is to work with and provide on the ground advice to farmers. The role-holder will also work with partner organisations, the agricultural industry, and colleagues from the Defra group to build our capabilities to deliver a range of priority outcomes for NE. All CSF farm advisers will have the opportunity to enrol in a structured training programme.

Key Tasks

• Evaluate and understand environmental priorities for CSF within the specified catchment(s), using national data validated locally.
• Work in priority areas to develop and lead specific CSF training, information and advice campaigns for farmers and landowners.
• Give bespoke advice on-farm to farmers and organise and deliver, with the aid of specialists, further advice, group events and workshops.
• Work with farmers to identify key pollution issues on farm and relevant practical solutions.
• Support farmers and landowners to take action to achieve change on farm leading to improvements for nature.
• Communicate, advocate, and promote CSF activity with Natural England, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission colleagues and externally with farmers, land managers and partners.
• Work with NE colleagues and partners, such as water companies and catchment partnerships, to deliver a joined-up approach including developing formal partnerships where appropriate.
• Drive delivery via a range of tools including specialist training and advice (own or procured through contractors) and using incentives such as Capital Grants, SFI, FETF etc.
• Utilise Environment Land Management Schemes (ELM) by advising farmers on suitable land management options and/or capital items and giving advice on water and air quality options/items in Higher Tier applications.
• Offer general advice on other CS options such as those addressing biodiversity and/or signpost applicants to additional advice from other sources where targeting overlaps.
• Support Defra’s Sustainable Slurry Management programme including offering advice to Slurry Infrastructure Grant applicants.
• Work with the Environment Training and Facilitation Framework (ETAFF) Contract Manager to provide timely information for tenders for group events and farm advice.
• Conduct quality control to agreed processes and deadlines.
• Record interactions and advice given.
• Monitor the effectiveness of engagement with farmers and landowners.
• Understand the relevant Diffuse Water Pollution Plan(s) and Shared Nitrogen Action Plan(s) and incorporate into CSF plans where appropriate.

Frequent farm and site visits, and partnership working are required. The post holder will be required as part of regular, day-to-day work to visit farms and walk over fields and around farm buildings within the geography of the relevant area. Sometimes this may be in inclement weather conditions. It is essential that the post holder has a current, valid, full UK driving licence and is willing to drive. Some national travel may be required, which might involve overnight stays. This post is a fixed term one year maternity cover.