I feel desperately sorry for those businesses that did not manage to get into the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) before it shut.

I have an existing SFI agreement which started in September 2024. It is lightweight in comparison with my Mid Tier agreement, which is carrying most of the land-sparing field options.

I lost a little enthusiasm for the SFI when I found the no-till farming action too prescriptive for my system.

See also: How tech trial is helping Lincs estate improve wheat inputs

When my Mid Tier expires in 2027 I will have a funding gap to fill, but I don’t have high hopes for a replacement scheme.

Farming cycles are slow and businesses need time to plan and adjust.

On 25 February, Defra secretary Steve Reed announced a third round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund grant scheme.

About the author

Robert Scott

Robert Scott farms 1,450ha of arable in mid-west Norfolk for seven different landowners. He grows combinable crops and sugar beet together with cover crops, grass leys and extensive countryside stewardship schemes. He also finishes 2,000 lambs a year. robert@thscottandson.co.uk Instagram: @thscottandson

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Since then, no opening date or further information has been published. How farmers or suppliers are supposed to run their businesses around this type of information drip-feeding is beyond me.

In more positive news, I have finally sold my 2024 low-protein Wildfarmed winter wheat.

Last summer, we achieved a respectable 4.1t/ha with just 80kg/ha of nitrogen and no pesticides on some of west Norfolk’s finest sand and flint.

Despite my best efforts with late season foliar nitrogen and various other bio-stimulants along the way, we fell short of the magic 11% protein score.

This meant we had to clean the sample ourselves, separating the companion beans from the wheat.

Wildfarmed struggled to find an alternative premium home for these two regenerative crops, but the wheat finally found its way into a local mill this week for £182/t ex-farm.

I’m yet to complete a financial analysis, but I suspect we’re well below break-even.

Having said this, I still very much like the idea of Wildfarmed, and a number of other businesses (and the government) could learn a thing or two from how well the company conducts itself with growers. The knowledge exchange and communication is superb.

Despite this, more thought needs to go into crop storage and alternative markets for those that don’t make the grade for their bread.

We’re growing for them again this year, but with linseed and wheat. We have learned some lessons from last year, and I hope that with more nitrogen leeway, we are able to make the spec.