The government's post-Brexit Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme has opened today for applications following delays and criticism from the industry.
Thousands of farmers and land managers will be able to apply to the scheme with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) from Monday (18 September).
However, Defra has been criticised following significant delays to the start of the scheme, which should have been up and running in August to deliver payments by December.
At the same time, farmers are currently facing ongoing reductions in BPS, with the NFU saying the pot has already been reduced by £720 million.
The SFI will pay farmers in England to take actions that support food production whilst protecting and enhancing the environment.
The 2023 offer has 23 paid-for actions on offer, including on hedgerows, nutrient management, farmland wildlife and low input grassland.
Farmers with a live SFI agreement before the end of the year will receive their first quarterly payment – worth 25% of the annual value of their agreement – by the end of this year.
Defra Secretary Thérèse Coffey said today: “I have been delighted by the registrations of interest from farmers across a diverse range of farm types in our new SFI scheme.
“We’ll be working to get as many farmers onto the scheme as quickly as possible, so that they get payments in their pockets and are rewarded for the enthusiasm with which they are embracing this scheme.”
It comes after the NFU recently slammed the SFI as being 'open to the few' while many farmers faced 'significant holes in their finances' due to BPS withdrawal.
The union's president, Minette Batters said: “We have heard a number of welcome announcements this week, and credit where it’s due, farmers will be pleased government has listened to them.
"But the backdrop to these pieces of good news is that many farmers continue to face a bleak end to the year, with money they were promised, and rely on, not coming.
“Delays in the rollout of the new scheme, coupled with reductions in the current scheme, mean most farmers have been unable to access the new SFI while facing significant holes in their finances from the withdrawal of BPS.”
Defra has published an online guide which sets out the full details of the SFI scheme.
