Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)
What is SFI?
*Please note these schemes are still being developed by DEFRA and therefore this information may change
SFI is one of 3 new environmental land management schemes being rolled out by DEFRA. It will complement Countryside Stewardship schemes and Landscape Recovery schemes.
SFI aims to help farmers manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable.
Farmers will be paid to provide public goods, such as:
improved water quality
biodiversity
climate change mitigation
animal health and welfare
An SFI agreement will last for 3 years. You need to have ‘management control’ of the land entered into the agreement for its 3-year duration. Paid on a quarterly basis, with the first payment usually made mid-way through the 4th month after your agreement starts.
Who can apply?
You can apply for an SFI agreement if you’re a farmer who is eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), with land in England. The scheme currently only allowing BPS eligible farmers to apply for an SFI agreement. This is because their details are already registered with the RPA. In future, a wider range of farmers will be able to apply. This will not happen before 2024.
SFI Options and Common Land
In 2023 there are 23 SFI actions available:
In the future, more actions will be introduced. You’ll be able to add these to your agreement, as well as increase levels and add land.
Click here to see the full list of standards in the SFI 23 handbook:
Of these actions the two currently most appropriate for common land are:
SFI Moorland (Introductory (£10.60/ha (+£7/ ha for commons) plus an additional payment per agreement of £272)
SFI Low Input Grassland (Introductory rate- £22/ ha, intermediate rate- £138/ ha, advanced- £143/ ha)
Click to link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfi-actions-for-moorland
The low input grassland standard LIG1 and LIG2 are available
Click to link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfi-actions-for-low-input-grassland
The payment rate for the SFI action for low input grassland in the Severely Disadvantaged Area has been updated so the payment rates are the same in the upland and lowland areas
The SFI Management payment to all land-based SFI actions now includes the action for moorland (MOR1)
Eligibility of commons and shared grazing land for an SFI agreement
To enter common land into an SFI agreement, you must:
meet the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) eligibility requirement for common land
be a single entity, either as a sole beneficiary or a group
have a formal, legally enforceable internal arrangement for a group
have sufficient management control of the common land to complete the SFI actions for the duration of the 3-year SFI agreement
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eligibility-of-commons-and-shared-grazing-land-for-an-sfi-agreement
SFI and CS on same land parcel
SFI options will be able to be combined with Countryside Stewardship options on the same parcels of land, but farmers cannot be paid for the same action under both schemes.
Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Digital Moorland Survey Tool
The Foundation for Common Land’s phone-based Digital Moorland Survey Tool enables commoners and moorland managers to undertake the new SFI Moorland Assessment scheme efficiently and cost-effectively.
Defra’s SFI Moorland scheme pays £17.60/ha/ year on commons and £10.60/ha/year on non-common moorland. There is also a management payment of £20/ha for up to 50 ha as well as an extra £272 per agreement. Therefore, a 1000ha common can earn an extra £18,872 per year on top of the existing Higher Level Stewardship or Countryside Stewardship scheme. No land management changes are required as the scheme pays for an assessment of soil depth and vegetation cover.
The phone app enables the undertaking of the moorland survey so that communities can keep the funds while also developing knowledge and skills. This enables more informed conversations with Natural England and improved assessment of the options for future income generation from ELM e.g. through Countryside Stewardship, SFI, or Landscape Recovery.