June 2022 SFI standards and payment rates

Dman2 · Mar 31, 2022

topground said:
That’s £3200 until the RPA inspector comes to find reasons why you have not complied with a vague scheme that you have signed up to but have no right of appeal on matters of interpretation then DEFRA take the money back that you have probably already spent. Minus the costs of soil testing. What’s your hourly rate for the office work and the keyboard bashing necessary to sign up?

But that`s the same for Bps
Most of us are already doing what is needed for the intermediate level
Yes we need soil tests which not everyone does, but maybe should be. No point in throwing fert around if it`s not needed.

gloria1 · Mar 31, 2022

As ever its supposed to be really simple,but like everything from Defra there are pages and pages of explanations, reading one page,then flicks you to another and so on, and plenty of scope for misinterpretation, never mind the mapping How much is a SOM survey going to knock off the bottom line particularly if everyone wants one at the same time,and whats the cost of redrilling herbal leys.As ever all the first years payments will get hit by all these establishment costs.Its not simple ,not cheap to establish and tied up with long term regulation.

Huno · Mar 31, 2022

We have been shouting at Janet Hughes on her Landscape Recovery thread about this for 2 days but the record has got stuck there with the same replies... SFI is not fit for purpose and is certainly not available to all Land Managers

Huno · Mar 31, 2022

steveR said:
It can only work.... such as it ever will, if the applicant can double or treble up the options on a given parcel of land.

However, it looks as if DEFRA have rowed back on what was said a few months ago about "dual" funding from Private sources and SFI....

@Janet Hughes Defra can I ask just what this statement actually means??

You cannot enter land into an SFI standards agreement if you are receiving funding from another source to do similar environmental land management actions on that land.

What is actually meant by this? What does it mean by "similiar"?

I have many hectares growing effectively, conservation type mixtures. These can be sown in the Winter or Spring, to suit my needs and more importantly, my varying soil types. This is to meet a number of requirements that can include, biodiversity, water protection and resilience etc etc.

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Private sector schemes
In 2022, you can enter the same area of land into an SFI standards agreement and a private sector scheme arrangement, such as carbon trading or payments for natural flood management.
This is only possible if you are not being paid twice for similar environmental land management actions legally required in your SFI standards agreement and the private sector scheme.
You also need to meet the rules and requirements of the private sector scheme, including:

whether the environmental outcome is additional to what you’re delivering in the SFI standards agreement (‘additionality’)

verification of the environmental outcomes

The approach to private sector schemes will be reviewed by Defra annually.

Other funding sources
You cannot enter land into an SFI standards agreement if you are receiving funding from another source to do similar environmental land management actions on that land.
This includes funding received from:

local authorities

National Park Authorities or AONB grant schemes, apart from Farming in Protected Landscapes

the Highways Agency

the National Lottery

a crown body, such as the Duchy of Cornwall

energy and water companies

Published 30 March 2022

If you are funded by a water company you cant enter SFI anymore for example... devils have finally created the detail

4course · Mar 31, 2022

ive just spent an hour or two this morning reading and trying to grasp what I would ,could or need to do to join the sfi scheme and reap the reward of £8.90/acre . By my calculations I would be worse of joining the basic level and considerably worse off if joining the intermediate level when it arrives so looks like im going to have to continue producing what our leaders/policy makers do not want i.e a supply of home grown affordable basic foodstuff for the nation and beyond

Huno · Mar 31, 2022

Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance

What farmers need to know to get paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and how to apply for this funding.

www.gov.uk

Read this link and you will see the

in the detail that penalises load of people in CS and Private agreements... cheers Delilah... and you really think they will pay real cash for the first 100ha of PP.. no chance!!

warksfarmer · Mar 31, 2022

delilah said:
https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/20...e-standards-payment-rates-and-how-to-prepare/

Just more rubbish. It’s not fit for purpose and the uptake will be the likes of the national trust only. The whole thing is a shambles much like Eustice who isn’t fit for purpose.

delilah · Mar 31, 2022

warksfarmer said:
Just more rubbish. It’s not fit for purpose and the uptake will be the likes of the national trust only. The whole thing is a shambles much like Eustice who isn’t fit for purpose.

Quite.

Base Farmer John H said:
Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance

What farmers need to know to get paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and how to apply for this funding.

www.gov.uk

Read this link and you will see the in the detail that penalises load of people in CS and Private agreements... cheers Delilah... and you really think they will pay real cash for the first 100ha of PP.. no chance!!

Fenchurch · Mar 31, 2022

Hi, @Janet Hughes Defra. Please could you explain the rationale behind the double funding rules with the private sector. We have a volunteer scheme where local businesses send their staff to us to do land management activities for team building (scrub work, hedge laying, etc). Would volunteer labour count as funding?

farmerm · Mar 31, 2022

Wombat said:
The thing i find intersting is we are a 20% cut this year but if I put all my land into these schemes at the highest rates i cannot get the money to make it back to the amount of the 20% cut therefore who is pocketing the difference?

Won't be doing any of it yet anyway will see where it is in a couple of years

Well the money for £500,000 reservoir grants is not going to print itself.... then there will be a heap of new administration costs, a lump to sink into new IT systems which will then be probably then needs scrapped and started over and then the poor people in the RPA will need some fancy new office furniture, coffee machines and extra staff to allow for a 30 hour working week.... There will be big winners like National Trust and RSPB who have steered the schme development and as a result will be able to draw vast sums from the pot. Anyone who still thinks UK farming will carry on being subsidised by our government is completely deluded. Farmers will be betting a penny in the pound back of the BFP money back though the schemes. The schemes are to subsidise envionmental work and habitat creation at rates which in many cases shall barely cover costs and income foregone.

farmerm · Mar 31, 2022

Dman2 said:
Well for those who think it`s not worth the bother, let me apply for you and then you send me the money
we have @ 80 ha, so at £40/ha thats £3200
How long ordinarily in farming does it take to earn that amount, a damn sight longer than applying for SFI

Previously is was £230/ha and without many hoops. £41/ha on arable requires intermediate standard that means having to min till/no till at least 25%, "increase organic matter" on at least 15% and establish over winter green cover on at least 10%. Then there are the soil assessment documents to generate and Soil OM samples to have analysed for 20% of the farm each year. Such measures soon take a noticeable chunk out of that £3200 if they don't fit within your existing system. Then there is the risk of inspection and none compliance penalties. I will probably end up jumping though the hoops and doing it but I can fully understand there will be many who choose a simpler life and choose not to.

farmerm · Mar 31, 2022

AndrewM said:
Does every arable field need 70% cover on it over winter? Or is it 70% or fields need to be planted?.

Can't strip graze stubble turnips over winter if the first is the case

70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.

Intermediate......

"Action

Establish green cover to provide dense over-winter ground cover to reduce nitrate leaching and protect the soil from winter rainfall.

Ways you can achieve green cover include:

sowing an autumn-sown crop - any crop sown in the late summer or autumn that can establish dense cover to deliver the outcome is acceptable.
establishing a quick-growing green manure or cover crop.

Establish or maintain by the end of September on at least 10% of land entered into the standard. This should be targeted at land at the highest risk of erosion or surface runoff and light sandy soil identified in the soil assessment.

If you do not have land at risk of erosion or runoff or light sandy soil, you must still establish the green cover."

Retain the cover crop until late winter."

Grass And Grain · Mar 31, 2022

Dman2 said:
Well for those who think it`s not worth the bother, let me apply for you and then you send me the money
we have @ 80 ha, so at £40/ha thats £3200
How long ordinarily in farming does it take to earn that amount, a damn sight longer than applying for SFI

To get £40/ha you need to do the OM lab tests, a soil management plan, have 70% green cover by end of December (many didn't plant a seed in Autumn 2019), and then have 20% in multi-species over winter cover crops.

4ha fields, that's 20 X lab tests at £10 each, and your own time taking those samples (say £70), so that's £270.

Produce a soil management plan, including soil texture classification. Say £150.

I'll presume you get 70% of area in crop cover or weedy stubbles by Xmas, so no cost for that.

20% (16ha) in overwinter cover crop. Legumes, brassicas, and some other plant classification which I can't remember. So you're probably looking at purchased seed at say £50/ha. £50/ha to drill it, £50/ha to spray it off and destroy it with a flail (suppose some will graze with sheep).
I'm calculating it a bit cheaper than that, so let's say £130/ha for all that X 16ha = £2080.

Then if you're a heavy land farm and profit best from Autumn sowing, you've now to sow the 16ha in Spring, with potentially a lower gross margin (spring cropping will work fine for some farms).

That all comes to a grand total of £2,500, but use your own figures and calculations.

RPA payment of £3,200, leaving you £700 for all the hassle and risk of having a non-conformance penalty, and filling out the claim form, and compromising your cropping plans.

Is that still worth it?

Personally, on my farm, it's not worth the hassle. I'm out.

Edit. The OM tests and soil man plan are one off costs. So average those over say a 5 year period. Sorry, messed up a bit

Huno · Mar 31, 2022

farmerm said:
70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.

Intermediate......

"Action
Establish green cover to provide dense over-winter ground cover to reduce nitrate leaching and protect the soil from winter rainfall.

Ways you can achieve green cover include:

sowing an autumn-sown crop - any crop sown in the late summer or autumn that can establish dense cover to deliver the outcome is acceptable.

establishing a quick-growing green manure or cover crop.

Establish or maintain by the end of September on at least 10% of land entered into the standard. This should be targeted at land at the highest risk of erosion or surface runoff and light sandy soil identified in the soil assessment.

If you do not have land at risk of erosion or runoff or light sandy soil, you must still establish the green cover."

Retain the cover crop until late winter."

No mate it is now 70% as of yesterday... read the new rules they are an aweful joke compared to their last broadcast... proper bar stewards in their new offices!!

Fenchurch · Mar 31, 2022

A bit of a slap in the face that it’s still called the sustainable farming incentive

farmerm · Mar 31, 2022

gloria1 said:
As ever its supposed to be really simple,but like everything from Defra there are pages and pages of explanations, reading one page,then flicks you to another and so on, and plenty of scope for misinterpretation, never mind the mapping How much is a SOM survey going to knock off the bottom line particularly if everyone wants one at the same time,and whats the cost of redrilling herbal leys.As ever all the first years payments will get hit by all these establishment costs.Its not simple ,not cheap to establish and tied up with long term regulation.

SOM adds about £10 to a basic soil test If we average one OM test every 10Ac every 5 years that equates to a cost of about 80p/ha/year, I think, mid lambing so my maths brain isn't at its best :scratchhead:

Agree many opportunities to misinterpret a rule, make a mistake or simply forget something!

Why one needs SSSI consent is beyond me? Seems like a waste of time for both farmer requesting it and Natural England staff looking into the request. I can not see how any of the soils standards force one to do something that would otherwise not be permitted within their SSSI responsibilities?

Where does this 70% green cover figure that keep appearing come from....

Base Farmer John H said:
No mate it is now 70% as of yesterday... read the new rules they are an aweful joke compared to their last broadcast... proper bar stewards in their new offices!!

Of FFS what the F they are having a F ing joke they can go and F ing swivel on a F ing broom

Where are the latest rules that isn't what this page shows?

Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance

What farmers need to know to get paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and how to apply for this funding.

www.gov.uk

delilah · Mar 31, 2022

farmerm said:
Of FFS what the F they are having a F ing joke they can go and F ing swivel on a F ing broom

Post of the week.

Huno · Mar 31, 2022

farmerm said:
SOM adds about £10 to a basic soil test If we average one OM test every 10Ac every 5 years that equates to a cost of about 80p/ha/year, I think, mid lambing so my maths brain isn't at its best

Agree many opportunities to misinterpret a rule, make a mistake or simply forget something!

Why one needs SSSI consent is beyond me? Seems like a waste of time for both farmer requesting it and Natural England staff looking into the request. I can not see how any of the soils standards force one to do something that would otherwise not be permitted within their SSSI responsibilities?

Where does this 70% green cover figure that keep appearing come from....

Of FFS what the F they are having a F ing joke they can go and F ing swivel on a F ing broom

Where are the latest rules that isn't what this page shows?

Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance

What farmers need to know to get paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and how to apply for this funding.

www.gov.uk

Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance

What farmers need to know to get paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and how to apply for this funding.

www.gov.uk

Here you go in all it bullsh☆t glory... yes lots of us feel like that

No wot · Mar 31, 2022

I'm sure Janet Hughes and her DEFRA staff are very excited and full of self congratulations over all their toil and hard work rolling out this incredible new farm support package , mean while back in the real world, f##k all that bull sh!t I'll farm as best I can without it

steveR · Mar 31, 2022

Grass And Grain said:
I've read through a chunk of the guidance. It's a dog's dinner.

Not the easiest read, I have to agree....

June 2022 SFI standards and payment rates

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70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.​

"Action​

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70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.​

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Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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Private sector schemes

Other funding sources

70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.

"Action

70%? I think it is 5, 10 or 15% to have green cover depending on if you opt for basic, intermediate or advanced standard.

"Action