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Sustainable Farming Incentive 2022 Lowdown

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2022 Lowdown

Sally Blowey of Stags Professional Services outlines the details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.


The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is the first of DEFRA’s three new environmental land management schemes. The scheme will pay farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production. DEFRA hope that 70% of farmland will be in the scheme in 2028 and will expand the offer over the next 3 years.

 

Eligibility

  • Farmers who are eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will be eligible for SFI.
  • SFI will operate at a land parcel (field) level. This means that farmers can choose how many of their fields to enter into SFI standards – they do not have to enter their whole farm.
  • There is no minimum or maximum amount of land that can be entered into the scheme.

 

Agreements

SFI agreements will last for 3 years, with some flexibility for farmers to amend them every 12 months to increase ambition levels within standards, incorporate additional standards as they become available and add more land. It is expected that the standards and payment rates signed up to in 2022 will remain the same for the next 3 years.

 

Management control

Generally, SFI agreement holders must have management control of the land for the duration of their 3-year agreement. The person with management control is likely to be the person actively farming the land (such as an owner occupier, tenant or groups who farm on commons).

 

Payments

SFI payments will be paid in quarterly instalments in arrears. This will increase the frequency of payments compared to Countryside Stewardship and the BPS, to help farmers manage their cashflow within the year. In 2022, farmers will still be able to apply under other DEFRA capital offers (including Countryside Stewardship), alongside an SFI agreement.

 

Standards for 2022

The standards that will be available in the early rollout of SFI are:

1. Arable and Horticultural Soils standard

2. Improved Grassland Soils standard

3. Moorland and Rough Grazing standard (introductory level)

4. An annual health and welfare review for livestock

 

Summary of the Arable and Horticultural Soils standard

Introductory level – £22 per hectare

  • Test soil organic matter.
  • Undertake a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan.
  • At least 70% of land in the standard must have green cover over the winter months (Dec-Feb). This can include any kind of green cover, including autumn sown crops and weedy stubbles.
  • Add organic matter to 1/3 of the land in the standard each year. This can include any kind of organic matter, including sown green cover crops.

OR

Intermediate level – £40 per hectare

  • Test soil organic matter.
  • Undertake a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan.
  • At least 70% of land in the standard must have green cover over the winter months (Dec-Feb). This must include land with multi-species green cover – covering at least 20% of total land in this level of the standard.
  • Add organic matter to 1/3 of the land in the standard each year. This will include multi-species green cover grown under the cover crop requirement above, plus the rest made up of other ways to add organic matter as per the introductory level.

 

Summary of the improved grassland soils standard

Introductory level – £28 per hectare

  • Test soil organic matter.
  • Undertake a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan.
  • 95% green cover to protect soil (no more than 5% bare ground over winter).

OR

 Intermediate level – £58 per hectare

  • Test soil organic matter.
  • Undertake a soil assessment and produce a soil management plan.
  • 95% green cover to protect soil (no more than 5% bare ground over winter).
  • Establish or maintain herbal leys to improve soil health on at least 15% of land in the standard.

 

Moorland and rough grazing standard

This standard will apply to land above the moorland line. This standard is not yet finalised and more information is expected shortly. The aim of this standard is to assess the range of habitats and features present on individual moorlands. This will contribute to a greater understanding of the potential of each moorland area to deliver public goods and directly feed into future elements of the SFI and other schemes.

 

Introductory level - Indicative payments: £148 fixed per agreement per year, plus additional variable payment rate of £6.45 per hectare;

  • Verify and record soil types, including peatland, and associated vegetation
  •  Evaluate the public goods potential and condition of the moorland
  • Identify opportunities to maintain or enhance public goods

 

Annual Health and Welfare Review

In 2022, SFI will fund a yearly farm visit from a vet or vet-led team. The Annual Health and Welfare Review is the first step on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. It is designed to:

  • help reduce endemic diseases and conditions within livestock
  • promote responsible use of veterinary medicines
  • improve welfare and increase farm productivity
  •  build on the strong relationships that exist between farmers and vets

 

The offer will initially be available to farmers in England who are:

  • keepers of cattle, pigs and sheep with more than 50 pigs, 20 sheep or 10 cattle
  • currently eligible for BPS

 

DEFRA will fund a yearly visit to each participating farm from a vet chosen by the farmer. This funding will be available for 3 years. Each annual visit is expected to take approximately 2 to 3 hours of veterinary and farmer time. While these visits do have common, core elements (see below), they are designed to be flexible, allowing the vet and farmer to focus on the most important areas for each farm.

 

The following elements are relevant to all commercial livestock keepers:

  • A discussion with the vet about the health and welfare of the animals, as well as biosecurity, and agree achievable actions for the farmer to take as a result.
  • Diagnostic testing, which will initially focus on identifying priority endemic diseases or conditions in cattle (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea), pigs (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus) and sheep (anthelmintic resistance).
  • A discussion around medicine usage on farm and the responsible use of medicines.
  •  Collection of data to improve understanding of the health and welfare of the national herd and flock.

 

The payment rates (per review) will be:

  • Pigs - £684
  • Sheep - £436
  • Beef cattle - £522
  • Dairy cattle - £372

 

Applications are expected to open later in 2022 for a 10-week period following confirmation of the details of the moorland standard.

 

If you would like to apply to the scheme or find out more then please contact Stags Professional Services department via professional@stags.co.uk.