On 11 March of this year, the government stopped accepting applications to its Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, one that pays farmers in England to integrate sustainable food production methods into their farming in an effort to improve the state of nature in the countryside.
Thanks to a high uptake, the scheme is now fully subscribed, says the government; as it stands, the finite SFI budget leaves no room for any further payments. Whilst the 37,000 agreements already in place will continue to provide farms with payments, Defra has announced that – with a few minor exceptions – it will cease to accept any new applications to the scheme.
The decision to end the SFI is, I believe, a misjudged and ill-timed one. Whilst it had been criticised in the past as being overly complex to navigate, the SFI provided farmers with much needed stability and set out a path towards a more sustainable form of agriculture in England.
The National Farmers’ Union’s president Tom Bradshaw has labelled the closure “another shattering blow to English farms,” delivered by ministers “desperately detached from the reality on the ground.” A journalist from The Times wrote that the decision is one of “monumental stupidity.”
The farming sector is currently facing unprecedented challenges; farming confidence is reaching new lows, and increasingly unpredictable weather events prove ever more difficult to manage. With the government’s recent move to apply inheritance tax to agricultural assets far from forgotten, it seems the Labour government is doing little to improve its popularity ratings amongst farmers.
The SFI scheme was ended overnight, despite Defra’s previous assurances that a six-week notice period would be given before any such closure. What the UK’s farmers and landowners need is clarity and consistency to navigate through these turbulent waters. Choosing to end the SFI with such abruptness will do nothing to assuage the fears of English farmers, many of whom are struggling to square high overhead and production costs with often meagre profits.
A revised scheme will be announced in the summer of 2025. I fear this will be of little consolation to those who have spent small fortunes on preparing grant applications for it, and who are readying themselves to buy and sow ahead of next year’s season. 70 per cent of the UK’s land is used by the agriculture industry. It is ludicrous to think that we will ever be able to find a pathway for achieving a nature-friendly system of farming without the support of, and without actively supporting, our farmers. The SFI was an imperfect answer to this dilemma, but its loss will be an immeasurable one.
“Man and his dogs” by Yoshimai is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.