‘Computer said no’: Allerton Project left in limbo after SFI chaos

A leading farm research project has been left without a clear replacement for its environmental funding after a technical problem prevented it applying for the latest Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme.

Staff at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) 320ha Allerton Project in Leicestershire spent weeks preparing a detailed SFI26 application, only to find they could not submit it when the application window opened on 22 September.

See also: Farmers Weekly Podcast Ep 324: SFI26 funding gone – what now?

Joe Stanley, head of sustainable farming at the project, said: “We were online at 10am to submit the scheme only to find that ‘computer said no’.”

The problem was linked to the farm’s existing, small SFI23 agreement, which includes the no-insecticide option and soil management measures.

Mr Stanley said the whole-field nature of one option, CIPM4: No Insecticide, prevented the project from adding other actions to the same fields.

“It really did scupper the job,” he said.

Staff spent 352 minutes trying to resolve the issue, including hours on hold to the Rural Payments Agency helpline, but were unable to submit the application before the funding pot was exhausted.

The £253m SFI26 Window 2 fund opened to farmers and land managers at 10am but closed less than six hours later after being heavily oversubscribed.

CS scheme expiring

The Allerton Project’s existing Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier agreement expires in December.

Its proposed SFI26 agreement would have been worth about £85,000 a year and was designed to support environmental measures already embedded in the farm’s system.

Mr Stanley said: “We have spent 30 years encouraging farmers, some of whom have been quite sceptical, to engage in agri-environment schemes.

“We are now left high and dry without a scheme until at least 2027. It’s very difficult to maintain the level of environmental engagement on the farm if that is not being made available.”

The Allerton Project has been involved in agri-environment schemes for more than 30 years and has contributed to the development of modern approaches to environmental farming.

“For us to be locked out of the scheme that we helped to create is even more remarkable,” Mr Stanley said.

The proposed application had been designed field by field to balance food production with measures to protect soil and support wildlife.

One field, for example, was due to have an erosion-reducing strip alongside a pollen and nectar mix beneath a hedge.

Alastair Leake, director of the Allerton Project, said the application process had failed to accommodate that detailed planning.

“Our application was painstakingly designed to maximise the benefits to nature from the various actions,” he said.

“It is ridiculous that the SFI took 10 years to design but gave farmers a six-hour window to apply.”

Defra appeals

Defra has said it will consider appeals from unsuccessful applicants and those promised technical support.

However, its website indicates that the entire £253m SFI26 Window 2 budget has already been allocated.

Mr Leake said the experience should prompt the government to reconsider how the scheme is designed.

“You can only infer a profound lack of care for wildlife and the countryside on the part of this administration,” he said.