SFI expanded offer: Farmers advised to apply ‘positive mindset’

Farmers and landowners in England are being encouraged to apply a positive mindset when considering applying for the new Sustainable Farming Incentive offer and how it fits in best with their farm.

Defra has published details of its expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2024 offer, which sees the number of actions available quadruple since last year to 102 actions and includes 20 new options for upland farming, agroforestry and precision farming.

See also: Farmers Weekly Podcast Special: Defra restricts land going into flagship scheme

Farming organisations and industry leaders have welcomed the announcement, including the timeliness of the scheme launch and the improved, broader, more flexible actions on offer.

Claire Robinson, NFU senior countryside adviser, urged farmers wishing to make applications for SFI 2024 to think about their farm, look at the actions available and how they fit in with their crop rotation or livestock grazing system.

“If you are looking at applying, make sure your maps are up to date on the Rural Payments Agency [RPA] system,” she said.

“The application is all going to be automated, so if your basic data is not right, you will face delays in getting approval.”

Farmers should also look at the payment rates for different actions and consider the management and costs involved, she added.

Any land parcels that contain historic features, or are located in a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), will require additional consent.

‘Extract best value’

Jason Cantrill, a partner at Ceres Rural based in Norwich, said farmers should look at the expanded SFI offer with positivity and use the actions to benefit their businesses.

“It’s not about changing your business to get the payments. You can use actions you have already been doing to extract the best value,” he said.

“It gives farmers an opportunity to enhance their business, achieve some efficiencies and there will be some environmental gains too, depending on which actions they use.

“Some farmers have not been in cover crops historically, but they have had time to work out how to use them.

“The SFI is perhaps a big encouragement to adopt them more than before.”

The Country Land and Business Association described the expanded SFI offer as a “ground-breaking policy development” in England’s agricultural transition and it urged all farmers to consider how it can work for their businesses.

Under pressure

George Dunn, chief executive of the Tenant Farmers Association, said continued wet weather, spiralling costs of production and endemic unfairness in the supply chain driving down returns had placed many farming families under immense pressure.

“For many farmers providing both food and environmental benefits, the direct payments have been the difference between profit and loss,” he added.

“With direct payments due to be reduced further this year, it is essential that the new schemes go further than simply covering income foregone and costs.”

The NFU also stressed the need for the RPA to have enough resource to deliver the SFI effectively and for the next government to provide sufficient budget for the scheme.