AHDB plugging SFI

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I received an invitation to apply for SFI immediately as I had originally expressed an interest in the first trials.

To be honest I may well look at it for the land that I already have in CS as I am already limited in what I can do on this land. My understanding is that as this will not be double funding then I can claim.
I am not sure it will be worth the time and effort, but I will keep everyone posted if I manage to sign up.
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Meanwhile a sector of the public think farmers get lots of free money and despite the end of ag subsidies are going to continue to receive this undeserved free money "under the guise of envionmental payments"
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
If ever there was a way of saving money and cutting needless regulation it would be scrapping SFI, surely.
Carry on with CS for those who want it. Maybe include some simpler options as an entry for those who are new to it which would be fairly similar to SFI. At least it’s just one scheme then.
Why is it whenever we hear “simpler” they add something even more complicated?
Personally I won’t be bothering with SFI. But I might put some into CS, though with present commodity prices actually growing stuff that people need looks more sensible.
 

delilah

Member
There are far too many competing viewpoints and finite funds for there to ever be consensus on what sensible standards would look like!!

That's why you have a suite of standards for folks to pick from, same as previous schemes. As plenty have said, all they are doing is reinventing the ELS/HLS/CSS wheel. Only problem being, at the moment the wheel is square.
 

topground

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Somerset.
Typical civil service , write everything down. If they did not realise that farmers know their own land and don’t need this additional layer of bureaucracy, particularly when the compensation for SFI is derisory then
they should be told by every farmer completing this survey.
I threw in the looming world food crisis that the movers and shakers are talking about in Davos and the fact that DEFRA are clearly asleep at the wheel.
 

topground

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Somerset.
Call me naive but I honestly think that everyone - ministers, Janet and co - went into this with the best of intentions. Can't think of any plausible reason why they wouldn't have. It's just that they have fecked it up. Still time - just about - to rescue it.
I took part in a zoom call yesterday where those farming to make a profit were outnumbered by civil servants and those farming for fun.
It was clear to me that the DEFRA employees were taken aback when I pointed out the numerous areas where SFI was not fit for any purpose on an all grass farm. The civil service appear to assume that because they think SFI is the best thing since sliced bread that everyone else will.
The tale of the Emperors new clothes comes to mind.
 

Two Tone

Member
Mixed Farmer
From the time when IACS started in the early 90’s, I have taken as much advantage as I could of any money availability from the state, including ELS and MTS where appropriate.

But this bloody ELMs nonsense, including SFI is a complete joke, over complicated and so far, unviable.
In effect, Not credible!

IMO, it is now time for me to concentrate on trying to ‘farm’ my way out of the drop in these incomes and do something that I understand and know about, rather than sometimes that I just can’t, don’t or even want to understand.

While Stewardship is still available, take advantage of it to its maximum on the unproductive, unprofitable land.
Then wait and see if they can come up with something workable, by the time it has ended.

Fortunately, I seem to have hit upon a farming system that seems to cover the loss of BPS on the arable.
 
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delilah

Member
bullocks.jpg
 

SteveHants

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 1037782Ruminant News turned up here yesterday, a magazine published by AHDB.
The extract above seeks to publicise their Horizon report which sets out (with a number of caveats) how SFI will deliver a profit. As with all of these reports the figures used and the assumptions made are not made available.
I wonder what was factored in for the time, frustration and dissatisfaction of farmers having to deal with DEFRA and it’s multiple agencies.
Not enough for me I have no doubt.
What does the collective think of this article?
I just had a mature student, in his first year explaining how farmers could best access funding from all the new schemes. He's nearly 10 years older than me and used to be in finance/accounting.

It was magnificent. I should steal it. :ROFLMAO:
 

SteveHants

Member
Livestock Farmer
Actually - I've contacted him and am seeing if he'd like to make some tweaks to it (with me) in order to deliver it.

I think the key is definitely forming farm clusters etc to access certain of the funds.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

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

  • 1,293
  • 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/
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