Scramble for SFI money ‘not unexpected’ says Defra secretary

The rapid uptake of money from the first window of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 in England is not unexpected, but there is no possibility of the £60m available being topped up once it has gone, MPs have been told.

Speaking at an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee hearing in Westminster on Tuesday (7 July), Sarah Dyke, MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, expressed concern at the rate at which funds are disappearing.

The scheme had only opened on 30 June, yet half the money had gone within just four days.

See also: Half of first SFI26 funding pot allocated in days

But Defra secretary Emma Reynolds told the committee this was to be expected.

“Because it was such a highly anticipated scheme and people were waiting for it for such a long time, it is quite normal that there was such a big number in the first two or three days,” she said.

“Perhaps the 75% milestone we won’t reach quite as quickly.”

This was confirmed by Emily Miles, Defra director-general for food, biosecurity and trade, who said the rate of applications was now slowing down.

But Ms Reynolds was quick to explain that the £60m for window 1 was finite and would not be topped up just because demand from small and first-time applicants was so strong.

“We’re monitoring [the situation] day by day with the Rural Payments Agency,” she said.

“If and when we get to 100% and there are small farms who haven’t applied, they will still be able to apply in window 2, but we won’t be opening any extra budget before then.”

Concern

Ms Dyke expressed concern that small farmers would then be pitted against all other farmers who, with the help of their advisers, would be better able to scoop up the next tranche of funds in Window Two.

But Defra rejected the suggestion. “We tested the system before it opened to ensure it could be accessed without special advice,” said Ms Miles.

“We designed it to make it as simple as possible, taking 30-40 actions out of the previous scheme so it can be accessed more simply”

Ms Reynolds also explained that previous Defra farming minister Angela Eagle had completed an application herself to check it was sufficiently farmer-friendly.

Spatial targeting

Looking further ahead, the Defra team emphasised that, while stability was important, changes would be introduced next year to ensure more “spatial targeting”, to ensure the SFI has the greatest impact where it is most needed.

“Everyone knows that nature is local, and the particular needs in terms of recovering nature in certain landscapes are different to other landscapes,” Ms Miles told the Efra committee.

“We will be bearing that in mind as we apply spatial targeting. We’ve got some details to work through on how we do that.”