Organic in SFI

[Henery]

Reading TFA news, say’s organic option will be available sometime in 2024, anyone any thoughts ? Payments ?

 

[Chris F]

We have been told there are new things coming in January along with a Q and A on TFF with Defra. Organic might be one of those, if not, you will get the chance to ask the question directly.

 

[Owenscott]

Can't see why permanently top fruit / bushes that are used for alcoholic drinks can't be included? Surely its beneficial to remove the chemical in that production too???

 

[pom]

Reading TFA news, say’s organic option will be available sometime in 2024, anyone any thoughts ? Payments ?

Speaking to someone who should now,I was told conversion is a 5 year deal on cs so not likely to be on Sfi but annual management payments may get moved to Sfi .so in his view cs to stay in some form .?

 

[Ludan]

I see with SAM3 herbal leys in the SFI scheme that you can also have OR1 and OR3 which appear to be 2 year terms in mid tier cs. I’m considering looking into that across the farm and rotating sheep around it. Hopefully get some fencing done too. Has anyone else looked into that? Is it just two years then you can revert back to conventional farming? It mentions OT1 and OT3 to follow it up, but is that optional or essential to follow OR1 and OR3?
Thanks

 

[Dairyfarmerswife]

I see with SAM3 herbal leys in the SFI scheme that you can also have OR1 and OR3 which appear to be 2 year terms in mid tier cs. I’m considering looking into that across the farm and rotating sheep around it. Hopefully get some fencing done too. Has anyone else looked into that? Is it just two years then you can revert back to conventional farming? It mentions OT1 and OT3 to follow it up, but is that optional or essential to follow OR1 and OR3?
Thanks

CS is a five year agreement. The organic conversion period is two years, hence the two year term on OR1/OR3. I would imagine it's mandatory to follow up with OR1 and OR3 for the remainder of the agreement. There are plenty of hoops to jump through for organic conversion, including inspections and certification fees. It's not just a case of stopping spraying and fertiliser.

 

[Ludan]

CS is a five year agreement. The organic conversion period is two years, hence the two year term on OR1/OR3. I would imagine it's mandatory to follow up with OR1 and OR3 for the remainder of the agreement. There are plenty of hoops to jump through for organic conversion, including inspections and certification fees. It's not just a case of stopping spraying and fertiliser.

Right ok thanks for your advice. I assumed there would probably be more to it. In our situation, if going down the route of sfi and fitting it into our farm business, my main retained asset would likely be the sheep flock ideally. Our arable could be put into something like the herbal leys as a break crop and if for 3 years, might aswell be done organically if extra money available. I won’t be applying fert or spraying anyway and would not have a problem with inspections. With current arable input’s being so expensive, and grain price where it was 12-15 years ago I don’t see the point in struggling to make that pay. And the sfi & organic payment would far exceed the current margin from cereals, plus we’d have a low input sheep crop on top. So it’s a route I’m quite keen on exploring for our farm. We have a bit of mid tier on a field already so can probably extend on that.