New, streamlined SFI 2024 scheme set for early June rollout

A controlled rollout of the 2024 Sustainable Farming Inventive (SFI) will commence in early June, with farmers in England invited to submit “expressions of interest” to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) if they wish to sign up.

In total, some 102 actions will be on offer with a wide range of payments, and farmers will be able to take a “pick and mix” approach.

See also: Defra announces cap on SFI actions to maintain food production

These actions include more than 50 that were previously part of Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship (CS), which is now being merged into the SFI scheme, with a single application and payment process.

Many of these have been reduced from five-year actions to three-year actions, to make them more accessible to tenant farmers.

“The new expanded SFI offer gives farmers more choice, makes things easier and pays out more, so they can get on with the important job of producing high quality food in a sustainable way,” said Defra farming minister, Mark Spencer.     

The new SFI includes 20 new options to support more sustainable food production, with payments for precision farming, agroforestry, a new and expanded offer for upland farmers, and more actions for tenants on short-term contracts.

A further four new actions will support flood preparedness, helping businesses to become more resilient to the changing climate and challenging weather conditions.     

All 23 actions in the current SFI 2023 offer are also being rolled over, including actions for soils, nutrient management, hedgerows, buffer strips and farmland wildlife.

Controlled rollout

The new scheme is set to open in early June, though farmers are already being invited to submit expressions of interest to the RPA, which will then invite a selected number to submit applications.

Any technical problems can then be ironed out, and Defra expects to have the application process streamlined and fully operational from 22 July.

Eligibility is being widened, so that new entrants, who have not previously been registered under the Basic Payment Scheme, may now apply.

It is anticipated that processing will then be done automatically and should only take a few days, with the first quarterly payments received within a month of an offer being accepted.

There will also be a management payment to help cover the cost of office time for applicants, worth an additional £1,000.

Of the 102 different actions, 94 will be for three-years, to maximise availability to tenants.

Commoners will have access to some of the previous Mid-Tier CS actions for the first time, though given the complexity of putting these applications together, they may not be considered until later in the year.

Endorsed actions

There will also be 16 so-called “endorsed actions”, such as species rich grassland, species-rich flood plain meadows, priority habitats, and rush control, which will require some level of advice and consent, to ensure they are done in right places in the right way.

The “species rich grassland” action, which is set to pay £646/ha, will be available from July, but the others will not come until later in the year.

Area limits

Defra also plans to extend the principle of area limits, putting a 25% cap on the area of the farm that may be given over to certain actions.

This 25% combined limit was introduced in March for six SFI 2023 actions, including flower-rich grass margins, and pollen/nectar flower mixes, which have little environmental benefit if used excessively, while presenting a perceived threat to food production.

The new SFI extends this limit to another four actions, such as in-field grass strips and unharvested cereal headlands, with another four more niche actions being considered for similar treatment.

Higher Tier CS

The Higher Tier CS scheme is set to continue as a standalone part of Environmental Land Management.

But instead of having a July 2024 deadline for the 2025 scheme, full details will be published later in the summer and the application window opened in the winter, with a view to still starting in January 2025.

After that, the application window will stay open on a rolling basis.

Defra is confident its new, more automated processing system will be able to turn applications around in days rather than months.

Reaction

NFU deputy president David Exwood said he was encouraged that the new SFI seems to be “improved, broader and more flexible”, and would compliment food production alongside environmental delivery.

““It is important now that Defra and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) ensure that all these schemes have the resources needed to make delivery a success,” he said.

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn said he was pleased with the improved offerings for grassland and upland farmers, and the attention being given to ensuring that tenant farmers can obtain maximum benefit from the new schemes.

“However, despite the limits being applied to some options, we are still concerned about the extent to which landlords are removing land from the tenanted sector to take advantage of schemes directly,” he added.