SFI Closure: Our Exec Director interviewed by the BBC

Our Executive Director, Julia Aglionby was interviewed by Radio 4’s Farming Today on 13th March about the closure of SFI and its impact on the uplands. Listen again here at 9 mins in.

With no Notice on Tuesday 11th March 2025 at 6pm Defra closed the SFI 2024 Expanded Offer . This particularly affects upland farmers and commoners who have had additional barriers to entering SFI but were beginning to apply and are now left facing a cliff edge of funding made worse by the accelerated decline of BPS payments. For instance on commons you need to have contact all legal interests and have an internal agreement while SFI was much more straightforward for those entering high paying arable options leading to high take.

Defra claims the SFI allocation had been spent due to high take of the scheme but by combining two years of budgets Defra’s Farming and Countryside programme figures remain difficult to analyse. We continue to press for more transparency.

Currently we do not expect a new SFI scheme to open until spring 2026 but in the meantime will are asking Defra for an interim scheme for those who deliver high benefits from schemes and have limited opportunities for other sources of income. We understand Ministers are also concerned about these buisnesses including upland farmers and commoners so we hope there might be an interim offer.

FCL will continue to run the SFI Moorland App for all those already in the scheme and we are looking to develop this service to incorporate Farmer Led Habitat Assessment. Do please contact sfi@foundationforcommonland.org.uk for more information.