Sustainable Farming Incentive: how the scheme will work in 2022

Sustainable farming incentive details published today 2 December 2021

Status
Not open for further replies.

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
Yes we'll provide clear guidance on which CS options are ok and which are not. If it overlaps, you can't have both on the same parcel, essentially. But you can put the rest into SFI, and add the CS parcels once your CS agreement ends, if you wanted to do that.
So does that mean rotational cs options like wild bird mix (AB9 I think) can't be on the same parcel as the sfi, or can they so long as the rules are adhered to.
 

topground

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Somerset.
The main thing is that you do your best to implement the standards, using the method most suited to your farm.

We know that even if you do everything right things don’t always go to plan in farming, given the weather, pests and so on. That's why we’re taking a new approach to agreement monitoring: when things go wrong (unless you're committing fraud or some other sort of clear wrongdoing) we'll help you get back on track rather than penalise you as has happened in schemes in the past.
@Janet Hughes Defra More glib assurances about how reasonable DEFRA and their agents will be but nothing published which is concrete and binding regarding contract dispute resolution.
No one in their right mind trusts DEFRA and for a grass farm this works out at less than £12 an acre less sampling and admin costs this is an enormous waste of public money in setting up a scheme that is designed to fail and non starter.
The figure of 900 is touted as farms participating in the SFI pilot. A month has passed since the scheme application deadline passed and still no figures published of the numbers and types of farms signed up.
when can we expect those figures to be published please?
 

redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
£11.33 / ac . There's more to be done to a business becoming more efficient than creating more paperwork to achieve that value. I could grass all my worst land cut in July and feed to the cattle than join in with this . If you serious about controlling pollution and doing the right thing for the environment you need investment in capital projects that prevent it happening. Not padering miniscule amounts to a broad spectrum acerage which basically has continued to be done regardless of any scheme . Why because any farmer worth his salt knows his top asset is soil. Keep it dry and feed it well , be soil or human the result will be the same - HEALTHY
Sounds like the higher payments for more ambition will come as BPS declines further........
 
£11.33 / ac . There's more to be done to a business becoming more efficient than creating more paperwork to achieve that value. I could grass all my worst land cut in July and feed to the cattle than join in with this . If you serious about controlling pollution and doing the right thing for the environment you need investment in capital projects that prevent it happening. Not padering miniscule amounts to a broad spectrum acerage which basically has continued to be done regardless of any scheme . Why because any farmer worth his salt knows his top asset is soil. Keep it dry and feed it well , be soil or human the result will be the same - HEALTHY
what sort of capital investment did you have in mind, if you don't mind me asking please?
 
@Janet Hughes Defra More glib assurances about how reasonable DEFRA and their agents will be but nothing published which is concrete and binding regarding contract dispute resolution.
No one in their right mind trusts DEFRA and for a grass farm this works out at less than £12 an acre less sampling and admin costs this is an enormous waste of public money in setting up a scheme that is designed to fail and non starter.
The figure of 900 is touted as farms participating in the SFI pilot. A month has passed since the scheme application deadline passed and still no figures published of the numbers and types of farms signed up.
when can we expect those figures to be published please?
We are working hard to prove you wrong on the point of changing to a more reasonable approach - I fully appreciate you might not be convinced of that until you see it happening in reality.

We will publish the pilot numbers in the new year when we've completed all the applications and started all the agreements - we're working through them with applicants now.
 
W
Will these payment rates increase (or decrease) year on year, say in line with inflation/CPI/RPI/wages or are we stuck with the same rates going forward.

One of the reasons I left ELS was the payment rate never changed over 15 years, but my costs had gone up over that time
We've said we'll review the standards and pricing after the first round of 3 year agreements
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
double funding only means we won't pay for the same actions twice. There's nothing to stop you having a CS agreement on some parcels and SFI soils standards on others, or having 2 different agreements on the same parcel so long as they're not paying for the same thing, or actions that are incompatible
Thank you, @Janet Hughes Defra

How about the non Govt "stewardship" schemes such as STEPS, as found here here in the Midlands, Janet? I believe that there are similiar schemes in other parts of the country too...?

I have large blocks of land in PP, newish Herbal Leys, Bumblebird type mixes, as well as Wild Bird and Game cover mixtures, some being partially funded by ST Water

No CS here now...
 
Last edited:

Green oak

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
I was in css for 15 years. 5 year phases. The last year I had a inspection in September and asked the inspector if everything was in order as he left. Nodded his head. Week later I had a bill for 32k. To be payed 28 days. The inspector couldn’t find 10 hectares of overwintering stubble in a 44 hectare field which was going into spring barley. Had to sell 300 tonne of wheat in a panic.Didn’t put any white sticks out. 50% of the css is still there today. Because I think it does good for the farm. And it’s my kind of goodwill gesture too nature. that fine which was resolved 5 month later left a bad taste. We have a 300 hectare farm and if the farm cannot make a living without handouts in the future. Then there 8 million reasons too let someone else have ago. My though is if farmers get the right sustainable amount for there grains,milk,meat products there more likely give more to nature. It’s a win win. Not begging for handouts. I’d like to think I’m a proper farmer. And not someone who’s there to rape the land. Like most of us I would imagine.
 
Last edited:
Yes, that's correct - there will be higher levels of ambition and a wider range of standards added in each year between now and 2025

And would those standards and ambitions be Defra's 'options', and a tag on to existing agreements?
Been caught like that before. :rolleyes:

And the Soil organic matter calculations for every parcel - what happens if, despite all your best efforts, the level drops?
 
Last edited:

Goffer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Yorkshire
what sort of capital investment did you have in mind, if you don't mind me asking please?
First of all let me say I've spent the last 4 years in various meetings and discussion with people behind the scenes on this and most agreed that the hypothetical values at the time were far from enough to get full engagement with farmers and they seem to have fallen on deaf ears. But to your question if defra wishes better use of manures and sludges why not have a capital grant scheme open to all farms for better storage for more timely usage. Sprays and sprayers are potential hazards if not store , used and applied correctly why not a capital scheme to address poor practice. Drainage is a massive problem in most counties and capital investment in the movement and even capture of water rather than the supposed use of thousands of acres of productive land to flood. You or I would not like to be sat in cold stagnant water neither does soil. These are but a few is
Ideas and i could go on but I have quoted many times what was the farm and horticultural development scheme of years ago was not a stupid template . The monies avaliable at the time was on a percentage scale the more benefit the higher the grant .100% traceable and answeable to where the tax payer monies was spent and what good it achieved in long term benefits.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top