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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
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
OR
Intermediate level – £40 per hectare
Summary of the improved grassland soils standard
Introductory level – £28 per hectare
OR
Intermediate level – £58 per hectare
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;
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:
The offer will initially be available to farmers in England who are:
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:
The payment rates (per review) will be:
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.