Defra minister vows to improve SFI offer for tenant farmers

Tenant farmers in England will be able to apply for “many more actions” under Defra’s expanded 2024 Sustainable Farming Inventive (SFI) offer from this summer, the farming minister has said.

Addressing the NFU National Tenant Farmers’ conference on Tuesday 16 April, Mark Spencer said the tenanted farming sector is a “central part of Defra’s plans to back British farmers and to grow the rural economy”.

Defra has previously faced criticism from farming organisations, including the NFU, Tenant Farmers Association and Country Land and Business Association for developing an SFI scheme which does not work for the tenanted farming sector.

See also: New landlord-tenant code of practice delights farm leaders

But recent surveys of SFI applicants indicate that about one-third are from wholly tenanted or mixed tenure farms, demonstrating “a good level of uptake from the tenanted sector”, Mr Spencer told delegates.

He said Defra had listened to feedback from farmers and removed barriers to tenant farmers entering Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes.

This includes three-year agreements to match the average length of many farm business tenancy (FBT) agreements, rolling agreements, and the removal of penalties for tenants who may have to exit schemes early if their tenancies end unexpectedly.

This summer, Defra will be launching new actions to improve the offer for all types of farms, but especially tenant farmers and those on moorlands and grassland, Mr Spencer said.

Sixteen additional new SFI actions with a three-year duration will be launched, and Defra is exploring whether it can offer a further 41 existing Countryside Stewardship actions on a three-year basis, including to make them more accessible to tenant farmers.

‘Crucial’ schemes work for tenants

NFU deputy president David Exwood, who is himself a tenant farmer, said it is “crucial” that the government ensures its new farming schemes work for tenant farmers.

“Progress has been made on SFI, but as more options become available, we have to make sure tenant farmers aren’t disadvantaged, particularly in the uplands, to ensure it delivers for both government ambitions and for tenant farmers across England,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Spencer said the government continues to deliver on its commitments in its response to the Rock Review of the tenanted sector in England, and has already established the Farm Tenancy Forum, which last week published the new agricultural landlord-tenant code of practice.

Defra will provide an update on another key recommendation in the Rock Review – the appointment of a tenant farm commissioner – very soon, he added.