Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Update

Fri 23 Jun 2023

On 21^st June the Department for Environmental, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced more details on the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards which will be available to applicants from August this year.

What has been improved for 2023

· Actions are no longer grouped into standards and levels and so farmers and landowners can select the actions on a ‘pick and mix’ basis to suit their land and businesses and area of land on which you want to undertake the action – there is no minimum area of land required per action

· Actions that were originally going to be scheduled for introduction to the scheme in 2024 have been brought forward

· You’ll be able to add more actions and eligible land to your agreement each year

· You don’t need the permission of your landlord to apply for an agreement if you're a tenant farmer, and tenants can have an SFI agreement even if they are on a shorter, rolling tenancy contract.

Schemes will last for three years and there will be the opportunity to apply for the next set of standards when they are published in 2024. Payments will be paid in quarterly instalments, you will receive your first payment four months after your agreement has started.

Rotational and static options are available, and it will be possible for you to vary the coverage of rotational actions, this is so they work with your crop rotation and different sized land parcels. This means that in the second and third years of your agreement you will be able to do the action on a larger area than you entered for the first year of your SFI agreement and a lower area as long as it is at least 50% of the area you entered into the action for the first year of your agreement.

Arable and Horticultural soil standard SFI applications are now closed, and this standard will not be carried forward.

SFI actions for soils

The SFI actions for soils are focused on improving soil health, structure, organic matter and biology.

Soil actions include:

· SAM 1 – Assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matter

· SAM 2 – Multi-species winter cover crops

· SAM 3 – Herbal leys

These actions can help with long term productivity and resilience of the soil to help benefit food production.

How much will you be paid?

· SAM 1 - £5.80 per hectare and £95 per SFI agreement per year

· SAM 2 - £129 per hectare per year

· SAM 3 - £382 per hectare per year

Summary of the SFI actions and what the SFI 2023 can offer you

Code

SFI action

Annual Payment

Rotational/

Static

Whole or

Part parcel

SAM1

Assess soil, test soil organic matter and produce a soil management plan

£5.80 per hectare and an additional payment of £95 per agreement

Static

Whole Parcel

SAM2

Multi-species winter cover crops

£129 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

SAM3

Herbal leys

£382 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

Actions for hedgerows

HRW1

Assess and record hedgerow condition

£3 per 100 metres – one side

Static

N/A

HRW2

Manage hedgerows

£10 per 100 metres – one side

Static

N/A

HRW3

Maintain and establish hedgerow trees

£10 per 100 metres – both sides

Static

N/A

Actions for integrated pest management

IPM1

Assess integrated pest management and produce a plan (this action applies to an SFI agreement, rather than a specified area of land (an ‘agreement level SFI action’)

£989 per year

N/A

IPM2

Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips

£673 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

IPM3

Companion crop on arable and horticultural land

£55 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

IPM4

No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops

£45 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole Parcel

Actions for nutrient management

NUM1

Assess nutrient management and produce a review report (agreement level SFI action)

£589 per year

N/A

NUM2

Legumes on improved grassland

£102 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

NUM3

Legume fallow

£593 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

Actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land

AHL1

Pollen and nectar flower mix

£614 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

AHL2

Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land

£732 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

AHL3

Grassy field corners and blocks

£590 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

Actions for farmland wildlife on improved grassland

IGL1

Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management

£333 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

IGL2

Winter bird food on improved grassland

£474 per hectare

Rotational & Static

Whole or Part Parcel

Actions for buffer strips

AHL4

4m to 12m grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural land

£415 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

IGL3

4m to 12m grass buffer strip on improved grassland

£235 per hectare

Static

Whole or Part Parcel

Actions for low input grassland

LIG1

Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (outside SDAs)

£151 per hectare

Static

Only total SFI available area unless done with IGL1

LIG2

Manage grassland with very loss nutrient inputs (SDAs)

£151 per hectare

Static

Only total SFI available area unless done with IGL1

Additional Payments

Additional common land payment (*if a group of 2
or more people apply for an SFI agreement on common land)

£6.15 per hectare*

SFI management payment (*up to the first 50 hectares entered into the relevant SFI action, per SBI)

£20 per hectare*

If you would like to discuss the options the Sustainable Farming Incentive has available to you, please do not hesitate to contact our expert Ella Redrup on 01507 350517.
We are always happy to help.