Defra SFI Webinar - 26th Jan - Watch on Demand

[Defra Farming]

On Friday 26 January, we're holding a webinar for farmers where we'll be going through the actions and payments available through our Environmental Land Management schemes in 2024.

The Farming and Countryside Director Janet Hughes, the policy lead working on the Sustainable Farming Incentive Jonathan Marsden and colleagues from the RPA will be there to explain the offer and answer your questions. This webinar is in collaboration with the Farming Advice Service (FAS) and The Farming Forum (TFF).

To prepare, you might find it helpful to read the blog post Environmental land management in 2024: details of actions and payments.

 

[Chris F]

We are working with Defra and the Farming Advice Service to deliver a webinar where policy and delivery leads will explain the Environmental Land Management offer in 2024, followed by a Q&A session. The webinar is being held on the 26th January at 10am–11:30am to allow plenty of time for questions. To attend the online session, simply follow the Zoom link and reserve a place.

Please take some time to read the information in this blog post Environmental land management in 2024: details of actions and payments and then ask your questions. As per the Q&A threads we have run before, these will run with the same aims. This thread is only for questions, all commentary will be deleted. Please read all the questions and use the upvote or downvote buttons to indicate which questions you agree with as opposed to asking the same question twice.

The thread is open for questions now and will close prior to the event. Defra are aiming to answer as many questions as possible, using the most upvoted from this thread as well as questions submitted live in the webinar. This will allow Defra to answer as many questions as possible in the session.

 

[Brett R]

From the SFI 2023 handbook: "To be eligible to apply for an SFI agreement you need to have been a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) eligible farmer on either 16 May 2022 or 15 May 2023."

When will SFI be opened up to those who were not BPS eligible on either of those dates, and are therefore currently locked out of both BPS and SFI? The handbook says that "this will not happen before 2024"... but will it happen in 2024?

 

[Still Farming]

Devolved powers in Wales ,therefore we have to be Answer twice ,to National and Senedd Agricultural Departments, rules and Schemes.
Duplication and possible differences when red tape,bureaucracy and campaign for simplification and reduction in paperwork was forefront of Election promises?

 

[alomy75]

Is AHL2 and a following spring option eg NUM3 allowed in the same cropping year. Eg winter bird food drilled after an early harvested crop (w barley) and kept until the following feb; then a spring crop or option (eg num 3) drilled and kept until the summer of that year before normal cropping can resume.

 

[spin cycle]

when are defra going to make good on the promise that I (and many more) who entered Cs agreements prior to 2024 ,could switch to sfi if they wished to at a later date without penalty?

why did I get an email only yesterday suggesting I could switch when,the situation 'on the ground' , appears different?

 

[steveR]

Has DEFRA liased with HMRC, and will they confirm that land in SFI is ALL classified as agriculture/farming for the purposes of IHT etc?

 

[ringi]

Can the Agroforestry be combined with "maintaining species rich grassland"?

 

[ringi]

Can DEFRA comfirm that when a farmer stops taking the payments the land will always be premitted to return to the use before the payment started?

 

[Grass And Grain]

What do we do if we commit to an option such as AHL2, but in May/June sowing period there's a drought and zero seed germination at all throughout May-September, and hence we don't fulfill the action's aims.

Will we get paid? Or will we have no remuneration for that field in that year?

Same applies to many of the options which rely on. conditions suitable for germination. Equally as bad as drought, sometimes it's too wet to establish SFI/CS options at the correct timing.

Thanks.

 

[Badshot]

Will it be possible to do over winter cover followed by legume fallow.
So plant cover after harvest, keep until the end of February, then plant legume fallow in early spring, keep until the end of August, then into normal combinable crop?
With the right seed mix it should all meet the aims as set out in the handbook.

 

[Mixedupfarmer]

Why is IPM4 (no insecticide) not a part parcel option? Those of us with split field cropping, or larger fields (where part field is temporary grass or certain crops which need the option of an insecticide) cannot use IPM4.

 

[alomy75]

Why is IPM4 (no insecticide) not a part parcel option? Those of us with split field cropping, or larger fields (where part field is temporary grass or certain crops which need the option of an insecticide) cannot use IPM4.

If you can be bothered; set up a new parcel with a RLE1 reflecting your required boundaries.

 

[Mixedupfarmer]

If you can be bothered; set up a new parcel with a RLE1 reflecting your required boundaries.

Yes that is an option, but the field splits are not always the same, and from a practical point of view, what is the difference between doing this and allowing it as a part parcel option?

 

[alomy75]

Yes that is an option, but the field splits are not always the same, and from a practical point of view, what is the difference between doing this and allowing it as a part parcel option?

Indeed; you’d have to do one each season which would be a pain. Who knows…

 

[CiderJan]

Will capital grant payments see an increase to reflect increased costs of complying/inflation of material and labour costs? It was increased January 2023 alongside revenue increases but nothing has been announced this year for the capital grants e.g. FG2, RP15 etc.

 

[drmrbrewer]

The IPM2 action is for flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips, but these apply to Arable land or Permanent crops. Will there be something similar for Permanent grassland, but for margins/blocks/strips that are less managed in general, e.g. with brambles, fallen branches etc etc? These are a haven for wildlife (large and small), but they don't provide grass for livestock so there's no incentive to have them (or keep them)...

 

[Badshot]

It seems apparent that a rotation of Winter barley, AHL2(until end Feb), NUM3(starting March 1st ending September 1st), winter wheat/winter barley is possible if you have the magic start date of March 1st. If this is acceptable, will it be made possible for all, regardless of start date? The computer system doesn't currently allow it.
There is already a similar question here, but I've gone a bit further into the detail.

 

[Chris F]

Don't forget to use the upvote buttons to let Defra know which questions you agree with.

 

[2tractors]

Can the new earth bank maintenance payment be combined with HRW1,2 and 3?