After leaving the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), farmers and land managers in England will no longer receive payments based on how much land they have, but rather how they manage the environment. The new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme in England will reward farmers and land managers with public money for the provision of various public goods, including improved biodiversity, cleaner air and water, healthier soils, and natural hazard protection. Since the

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... scheme represents a dramatic shift away from the previous subsidy regime, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has committed to 'co-designing' the new policy. To this end, Defra have invited farmers and land managers across England to share their views on what the new policy should look like, running two major online consultations, outreach workshops, and a network of nationwide 'Test and Trials' to date. We know, however, from previous research on land manager participation with government that participation can be unequal with a set of 'usual suspects' dominating engagement and a substantial group of 'harder to reach' stakeholders being less involved. Defra wants 82,500 holdings to participate in the new ELM scheme and thus wide engagement in both design and implementation is crucial. This paper explores why some land managers (focusing on farmers) might be 'harder to reach' in the context of ELM, who they might be, and how Defra can improve its forms of engagement to ensure that no-one is excluded from the co-design process. We identify ten different predispositions towards ELM that harder to reach farmers might have and make six recommendations that could help Defra improve ELM co-design and delivery: (1) make engagement worthwhile, (2) offer online engagement activities whilst improving connectivity, (3) reduce bureaucracy, (4) enhance trust through skilled intermediaries, (5) pay farmers promptly, and (6) ensure transitions to the new scheme are well-managed.