Key points to the Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme
The Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme was recently launched. This being one of the schemes to be incorporated into the ELM (Environmental Land Management) schemes.
The SFI scheme has been trialled for nearly two years, and in future farmers and landowners, who are currently claiming BPS on over five hectares on land across England, will be offered the opportunity to submit an application and claim.
The SFI offers agreements of three years in which amendments can be made every 12 months. This is a change from the Country Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier schemes being five-year schemes with no flexibility once a scheme is put in place.
Also, the flexibility of the SFI means that farmers don’t have to put all their land in the first year and can add as much or as little as they like over the three years. As well as being more accessible, there is also no requirement for landlord permission for the tenant to enter the scheme in 2022 yet checking their tenancy agreement to check they can apply is fundamental.
Another key point added to the SFI is there will be no fixed penalty for exiting the scheme within the three years under exceptional circumstances, such as loss of management control on their land.
Currently the SFI includes three standards that farmers/land managers can apply for that provide different payment rates. These include arable and horticultural land soils, grassland soils and moorland and rough grazing. Additionally within the SFI an animal health and welfare review is being offered with different payments rates for the following animals: cattle, sheep and pigs.
Within the pilots taken over the last year, Defra have been working with farmers and other land managers to manage and conserve to benefit the ecosystem services.
As a result of this, when the grant scheme opens, farmers/land managers will be able to apply for different ambition levels to different parcels on their farm.
The test and trials have proven beneficial to Defra, listening to farmers and their conflicting views specifically in areas such as minimum tillage/no tillage techniques, has meant that offering these elements in the first release Defra felt was too early to lack of information and needing more time for testing and understanding.
Philippa Maddocks at Roger Parry & Partners
