sustainable farming incentive

New regulations set to promote fairness and transparency across the dairy sector Written by Defra Press Office Dairy farmer milking parlour Yesterday (11th July), Defra Farming Minister, Mark Spencer, outlined more detail on regulations set to come into force later this year which will...

How we put unproductive farmland to use Written by Graham Higgins In our latest film, we explore how environmental improvements and farming work together in the Lake District. Filmed in spring last year, local farming facilitator Danny Teasdale took us to Strickley Farm in Cumbria, to meet...

“Producing for food, nature and climate” was the phrase frequently used by Janet Hughes of Defra as she gave a pragmatic presentation to a packed tent at Groundswell 2023. Once a fringe event, the topics discussed at the regenerative agriculture festival have become increasingly mainstream with...

How can we become carbon neutral? Progress update from Bishop Burton Net Zero iFarm A recent review of the carbon footprint at Bishop Burton, one of our Net Zero iFarms in East Riding, Yorkshire, has shown a carbon reduction of 2,441 tonnes of CO2 e between 2020 and 2022. Despite the farm being...

The plans for the roll-out of the new Sustainable Farming Incentive actions for 2023 have been announced by Defra this week. With 23 actions for farmers and land managers to apply for from August, the scheme will now reward those businesses looking to protect and enhance their farmed...

Protecting hedgerows: share your views Written by Leanne Joyce Hedgerows store carbon, support crop pollinators, create habitats for animals, slow water flow and create shade and fodder for animals. Those are just a few of their benefits. They are a vital feature of the English...

Expanded offer of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to roll out from August Written by Defra Press Office There has been widespread trade coverage in Farmers Weekly Farmers Guardian, Farming UK, Pig World, The Grocer and Business Green on yesterday’s announcement of changes to the...

Andrew Atkinson, farm consultant with Strutt & Parker. Work carried out by Strutt & Parker has shown that profit margins for UK arable farmers are expected to be down by more than 50% for harvest 2023. Lower commodity prices, higher working capital requirements and a drop in Basic Payments as...

How can measuring sustainability help us to understand and value the produce and services that farmers deliver? In this series, we explore the role of metrics in transitioning to a more sustainable food and farming system, and we meet some of the people who are leading the way. Here, Sustainable...

Although many of us associate carbon offsetting schemes with planting trees, there is an increasing focus on restoring soil carbon. Improving the health of soils, particularly on agricultural land, enables them to be more productive, to host more lifeforms and to sequester more carbon, making...

SFI: more ways to enhance your income, productivity and the environment Written by The Team Alison Day This year, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer will be bigger and more flexible. Today, we published the SFI Handbook on GOV.UK. It sets out all the actions we will pay for and...

Afternoon all, Today we've published a handbook containing all the detailed information about the sustainable farming incentive offer for this year. The handbook is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfi-handbook-for-the-sfi-2023-offer An overview blogpost is here...

Written by Michelle Martin from Agriland The government will start accepting applications for what it has called the “new and improved” Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in a controlled rollout from August. During the initial roll out period, when farmers sign into the Rural Payments...

Written by janineadamson from CPM Magazine The new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2023 will accept applications from August, offering additional actions and greater flexibility. Farmers will be paid for taking actions that support food production and improve farm productivity and...

Written by Charlotte Morrey from Agriland A transition to a regenerative system will lead to low yields and margins in the short term, but long-term regenerative agriculture will “improve” soil quality. That’s according to land agents Savills, which has recently published a report on the...

I am on panel chaired by David Exwood next week at the cereals event speaking with Janet Hughes I have been asked to talk about my experience of Sfi pilot and Sfi so far .............. frankly I don't have a lot to say on that as it's been pretty straight forward other than issues around how...

Coverage on Hedgerows Written by Defra Press Office On 30 May, coverage in The Guardian on post-Brexit farming payments reported that farmers and nature groups are concerned the transition away from the basic payments scheme will cut funding that protects English hedgerows. The piece...

Improving and extending our offer for upland farmers Written by The Team Credit: Natural England Upland farmers are a crucial part of our rural communities, economies and landscapes. They are central to the production of high-quality food and other goods. The uplands are a hugely...

Innovation in their business model is one of the successful strategies that vendors are using to support farmer adoption of technology, according to a new report - 'Agtech: Breaking down the farmer adoption dilemma' - by McKinsey & Company. However, it identifies that the entry cost and...

Coverage on government support for tenant farmers in response to the Rock Review Written by Defra Press Office Yesterday (24 May), the government published a range of measures to support tenant farmers and help provide long-term sustainability for the tenant farming sector in its response to...