SFI concerns

[Pottersfarm]

Had a meeting with an agent about SFI. Thought it was worth the hours charge as she deals with this stuff day in day out. Anyway we put together a plan that will replace 75% of our SFP but she has two issues with the whole thing.
The first is she thinks the money will run out which will reduce individual rates of the options due to the sheer volume of applications she’s seen going in.
The second is she has a niggly feeling in a few years Defra could turn round and say what’s in is now locked in and say you’ll need an EIA authorisation to start farming it again, which if they are he’ll bent on this greening thing, they’ll just turn them down. Another offset of that is them creating more national parks.

 

[Andy26]

I think those late to apply, the funding may run short, but there will a huge acreage locked in CFA at the moment that will be unlikely to be entered into SFI until they expire.

Some options have the potential of creating habitat needing an EIA, if that's a concern rotational options are best.

 

[spin cycle]

when iacs first came out i remember a story of a farmer who panicked thinking the govt would run out of money and promptly ploughed up an sowed his set aside

 

[Two Tone]

Had a meeting with an agent about SFI. Thought it was worth the hours charge as she deals with this stuff day in day out. Anyway we put together a plan that will replace 75% of our SFP but she has two issues with the whole thing.
The first is she thinks the money will run out which will reduce individual rates of the options due to the sheer volume of applications she’s seen going in.
The second is she has a niggly feeling in a few years Defra could turn round and say what’s in is now locked in and say you’ll need an EIA authorisation to start farming it again, which if they are he’ll bent on this greening thing, they’ll just turn them down. Another offset of that is them creating more national parks.

There are still plenty of concerns about SFI, but I reckon her concerns are a bit too negative.
We know that the pot of money is ring fenced (until the end of this parliament) from what the total of BPS and CS was.

I wish they would finalise the entire SFI, sort all the problems and transfer all existing CS agreements into it so we know exactly where we are.

My biggest worry is that having gone down the SFI route, a new Government administration will change it all again.

We cannot escape the fact that the average age of a farmer is high enough to cause many to struggle with the methodology to understand and enter into an SFI without experience professional help.
Which to me means that a lot of it is way too complicated.

 

[jessop123]

I disagree that there have been a lot of applications. I think uptake has been poor

 

[clemmo]

I disagree that there have been a lot of applications. I think uptake has been poor

It’s prob not as high people think !

 

[Steevo]

Sat in a room at an event last week, only one person had applied, another had an application ready to go. Most were just sitting tight.

 

[Fish]

Yes, I was in a room this week, show of hands who’s in sfi or applied, no hands went up.

on the other hand I’ve three near neighbours who are in sfi

 

[redsloe]

Had a meeting with an agent about SFI. Thought it was worth the hours charge as she deals with this stuff day in day out. Anyway we put together a plan that will replace 75% of our SFP but she has two issues with the whole thing.
The first is she thinks the money will run out which will reduce individual rates of the options due to the sheer volume of applications she’s seen going in.
The second is she has a niggly feeling in a few years Defra could turn round and say what’s in is now locked in and say you’ll need an EIA authorisation to start farming it again, which if they are he’ll bent on this greening thing, they’ll just turn them down. Another offset of that is them creating more national parks.

More being added to the SFI pot every year as CS agreements come to an end and BPS reducing fast now every year too.
By the time they think about locking farmers into options they will be begging us to produce food again.

Any future government will have enough to worry about without worrying about how to subsidise farmers income to produce cheap food.

 

[farmerm]

There are still plenty of concerns about SFI, but I reckon her concerns are a bit too negative.
We know that the pot of money is ring fenced (until the end of this parliament) from what the total of BPS and CS was.

I wish they would finalise the entire SFI, sort all the problems and transfer all existing CS agreements into it so we know exactly where we are.

My biggest worry is that having gone down the SFI route, a new Government administration will change it all again.

We cannot escape the fact that the average age of a farmer is high enough to cause many to struggle with the methodology to understand and enter into an SFI without experience professional help.
Which to me means that a lot of it is way too complicated.

(until the end of this parliament) so for the next 9 months tops.


Someone correct me but I think there are about 42K BPS eligible farms and by end of December there had been only 4.6K SFI applications.. Based on that I would suggest uptake may never get beyond 50% of those eligible and whilst some applications will be for claims bigger than their BPS I suspect for most farms, especially vast tracks of grassland, their SFI claims will fall far short of their BPS. I could be completely wrong buy I cant see the pot of money, as it stands, running dry.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Have extended family working at RPA, so much money they don't know how to spend the budget.

Her concern was that if farmers don't apply the budget will be cut.

 

[onthehoof]

Had a meeting with an agent about SFI. Thought it was worth the hours charge as she deals with this stuff day in day out. Anyway we put together a plan that will replace 75% of our SFP but she has two issues with the whole thing.
The first is she thinks the money will run out which will reduce individual rates of the options due to the sheer volume of applications she’s seen going in.
The second is she has a niggly feeling in a few years Defra could turn round and say what’s in is now locked in and say you’ll need an EIA authorisation to start farming it again, which if they are he’ll bent on this greening thing, they’ll just turn them down. Another offset of that is them creating more national parks.

If you’re only replacing 75% of sfp then you’re putting 25% in the pot, quite a few round here not interested in SFI so that’s a lot more in the pot.

 

[Dougalhtid]

Have extended family working at RPA, so much money they don't know how to spend the budget.

Her concern was that if farmers don't apply the budget will be cut.

Get it spent

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Have extended family working at RPA, so much money they don't know how to spend the budget.

Her concern was that if farmers don't apply the budget will be cut.

This is how the government will play it and the money will get diverted to something else. Then if the carrot hasn’t worked to achieve what they want, they may turn to the stick.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

At a meeting last week, Janet Hughes said there were 9,000 applications in or pending for SFI and a million hectares (I think and not acres).

However how many will not touch this at all, certainly large arable farms on Grade 1 & 2 land will not be taking much of the pot.
How many will actually get more than the BPS they were receiving before? My guess is that it will only be a few.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Talking to an agent at lunch yesterday. He was saying that many large farms have huge finance obligations on machinery etc which SFI won't cover , plus a workforce that have been with them for yrs and know the farms inside out , they will be wanting to plant and harvest to keep the finance payments going and the workforce employed as once gone they aren't replaced very easily.

...just his thoughts

 

[onesiedale]

At a meeting last week, Janet Hughes said there were 9,000 applications in or pending for SFI and a million hectares (I think and not acres).

However how many will not touch this at all, certainly large arable farms on Grade 1 & 2 land will not be taking much of the pot.
How many will actually get more than the BPS they were receiving before? My guess is that it will only be a few.

so if there's already 1million ha in at say an average of £200/ha does that mean that 80% of the 2.4 bn budget has already been allocated to just 10% of farms?

 

[Scholsey]

Would say there is a high chance anyone claiming the ‘species rich diverse permanent pasture’ payment may be kissing their right to ever plough/crop that field again goodbye.

 

[Nearly]

Would say there is a high chance anyone claiming to the ‘species rich diverse permanent pasture’ payment may be missing their right to ever plough/crop that field again goodbye.

Barge pole.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

so if there's already 1million ha in at say an average of £200/ha does that mean that 80% of the 2.4 bn budget has already been allocated to just 10% of farms?

Maths not your strong point?