Farmers and advisers are still in shock after last week’s sudden closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Thank you to everyone who has contacted Veronica with their experience of how it has impacted their business. We have been hearing from farmers who had draft applications about to be submitted, those who had submitted applications but who don’t yet have an agreement and those who were looking at SFI for the first time seeking to plug the gap in income created by the accelerated reduction in BPS this year. Some points to consider are:
- All existing agreement holders will continue to be paid for the duration of their agreement.
- Defra will process any submitted SFI applications and will accept new applications from those who have been in the SFI Pilot.
- Despite strong representations made at the emergency meeting this week by NFU, CLA, TFA and other organisations, Defra is still not allowing those with draft SFI applications to finish and submit them. This is very unfair for both these farmers and their advisors who were working on the assumption that there would be 6 weeks notice if the scheme was to be closed.
Defra says that a “reformed and more targeted” SFI scheme will be announced in Summer 2025 following the spending review, but it is not clear when the scheme will reopen. At the ‘emergency’ meeting with industry representatives on 17th March, it was reported that Daniel Zeichner failed to offer reassurance on the future of SFI, when it would be available and the budget. Details of the original announcement are on Defra's Farming Blog.
