We recently published details of this year’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer along with information on Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier and how those with existing agreements can benefit.
We'll start inviting people to apply in June, through a controlled rollout, as we have done in previous years. Doing so enables us to make any adjustments needed to our service and provide applicants with the support they need to apply during the initial rollout.
The expanded SFI offer will be available to most farmers at scale by the end of July. By then, voluntary guidance will be available to help you carry out the actions.
If you want to apply for the expanded SFI offer, the first step is to register your interest with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). They will contact you and invite you to apply.
If you’ve already started an application, you can either complete it with the range of actions currently available or submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the expanded offer using the link above.
An overview of the expanded SFI offer
SFI pays farmers to take actions that can help improve farm productivity, make farms and food production more resilient, and improve the natural environment and climate.
From the start of the agricultural transition, we said that we would improve and expand our offer, based on feedback, so that it works for as many people as possible and delivers our target outcomes for food, farming and the environment.
This year, the number of actions on offer through SFI will increase from 23 to 102.
Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier options have been improved and incorporated into SFI as actions. This will make it simpler, easier and faster to manage your agreement. It means that you'll have more choice and the flexibility of SFI with the breadth and scale of Mid Tier, just with less paperwork.
The 102 actions comprise:
- 22 of the existing actions (2 actions merged)
- 23 new actions, including on precision farming, moorland, flood and water management, agroforestry and no till
- 57 improved versions of actions previously offered through CS Mid Tier
Among the expanded offer are new actions which will support flood preparedness and resilience, helping businesses to become more resilient to the changing climate and challenging weather conditions.
The full list of actions and payment rates for SFI can be found in the scheme information.
Endorsed actions
As part of the expanded offer, we will be offering a new category of endorsed actions.
Endorsed actions require some approval by Historic England or Natural England (or their contractors) to check that the actions you wish to undertake on the land you manage are appropriate.
We’ve done this to make more actions available without the need for a bespoke Higher Tier agreement.
One of the 102 endorsed actions is GRH6: Manage priority species-rich grassland. Information about this action will be published in June and available for applications when the service opens fully from July 2024. A further 15 endorsed actions will follow later this year, as will the educational access action announced in January’s Agricultural Transition Plan update.
You can learn more about endorsed actions in section 1.2 of the scheme guidance.
Management payment increase
The SFI management payment covers the administrative costs of joining the scheme.
In February, we said we would double the management payment for the first year of each agreement. This summer, we will begin to make payments for those already in agreements and those entering into SFI for the first time.
The management payment will pay £40 per hectare for up to the first 50 hectares entered into an eligible agreement and £20/ha for the first 50 hectares for years 2 and 3.
Area limits
The following actions are intended to be used on smaller areas within a holding. As a result, you can only cover up to 25% of your holding with any combination of these actions.
- IGL1: Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management
- IGL2: Winter bird food on improved grassland -
- AHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix
- AHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land
- AHL3: Grassy field corners and blocks
- IPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips.
In addition, we’re applying the 25% limit to 4 of the actions in the expanded offer, because they’re similar in nature to the 6 above. This means that you will only be able to apply any combination of all 10 actions on a maximum of 25% of your holding. They are:
- WBD3: In-field grass strips
- AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland
- AHW1: Bumblebird mix
- AHW11: Cultivated areas for arable plants
We are keeping this list under review and will look to consult with the sector on capping an additional 4 actions. We've not limited these actions so far, because uptake of them tends to be limited to smaller areas already. We will confirm whether these actions will also be limited, by July:
- AHW3: Beetle banks
- AHW5: Nesting plots for lapwing
- AHW12: Manage woodland edges on arable land
- SCR1: Create scrub and open habitat mosaics
Taking advantage of the expanded SFI offer
New entrants
For the first time, those who didn’t receive Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments can now begin the process of applying for an SFI agreement. This means that those new to farming can enter the scheme.
The expanded offer will also be available to those farming on commons, with commons associations being able to start getting ready to apply now and then apply online later this year – more on this later in the post.
It’s worth bearing in mind that if you apply for an agreement on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), you must give notice to Natural England to get consent before you will receive an agreement offer and you must have consent from Natural England before you can start doing the relevant actions.
Existing SFI agreement holders
If you already have an SFI or Mid Tier agreement in place, you can make the most of the new actions straight away by taking out an additional, new agreement as long as the actions are compatible and we are not paying you for the same actions twice. The online application system will show you what actions are available on your land.
While we’re implementing improvements to SFI and rolling out the new offer, we’ll temporarily manage access to the service.
This is so that we can ensure everyone has access to the right support as we roll out the expanded offer, and to enable us to make any adjustments required to the system in the initial phase of rolling out the expanded offer.
If you would like to be one of the first farmers to access the expanded SFI offer, you can complete a short expression of interest on the RPA website. RPA will then invite you to apply over the following weeks.
We will gradually invite more people to apply through June and July and expect to be able to offer access to the service for most farmers at scale by the end of July.
Commoners
Commoners are a vital part of the farming sector and play a particularly important role in many of England’s beautiful, protected landscapes.
Common land is eligible for the expanded SFI offer, including if it’s part of a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).
The expanded SFI offer will substantially increase the number of actions for common land because CS Mid Tier options are being merged into SFI.
Those farming on commons also have access to an additional payment for common land of £7 per hectare to help groups with the costs, given the additional complexities involved.
Applying to join the scheme is likely to be more complex for those farming on commons, because it often entails reaching an agreement between parties and using a wider range of maps and data.
If you would like to apply for the expanded SFI offer on your common land, please send an email ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk with the subject ‘Expanded Offer Commons Interest’ and they will be able to support you to get ready to apply.
Meanwhile, those farming on moorland commons can continue to access the action already available in SFI, (assess the condition of the moorland, CMOR1, previously MOR1). They’ll be able to apply for the expanded offer on their in-bye land through a separate agreement if they wish.
CS Mid Tier and HLS agreement holders
From September, those with a CS Mid Tier or Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement will be able to end their agreement early to apply for a SFI agreement, or CS Higher Tier once it opens for applications this winter.
Farmers and land managers will be able to end their existing agreement either:
- at the end of their current agreement year and receive the full payment due for that year (subject to meeting the requirements of your agreement)
- before the end of your current agreement year, but not receive payment for the part of the current agreement year you’ve already completed
Farmers are also able to apply for an expanded SFI agreement to run alongside their existing agreement if:
- they and their land are eligible.
- the activities or outcomes are compatible.
- they will not be paid twice for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time.
Farmers with a Mid Tier or HLS agreement coming to an end will be able to choose what land and actions to include in a new agreement, subject to meeting the eligibility rules of the scheme you’re applying for. There won’t be any requirement to carry over the same or similar actions from the previous agreement.
Farmers with an existing Higher Tier agreement will generally be expected to complete their existing agreement, and will only be able to close their agreement early by exception. This is because bespoke Higher Tier agreements are expensive to set up and involve actions that need to be taken over a longer period in order to deliver benefits, and our main priority for Higher Tier this year is to enable more people to access Higher Tier agreements.
We will publish details on applying to end your existing Mid Tier or HLS agreement this summer.
Next steps for Higher Tier
This summer, we will publish more information on this year’s Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offer, setting out:
- who is eligible
- how to apply and request specialist advice for Higher Tier actions
- details of each Higher Tier action available to apply for
If you’re eligible to apply for Higher Tier actions, you may need specialist advice before you start your application, which you will normally get through Natural England or Forestry Commission. You may need additional advice from Historic England or the Environment Agency.
Later this summer, you’ll be able to start working with Natural England or Forestry Commission to prepare to apply. This includes any feasibility studies or plans you may need to complete.
You’ll be able to submit your online application for Higher Tier in the Rural Payments service this winter, with the first agreements starting from early 2025.
Applications will then stay open throughout the year, so you can choose when to apply. Agreements will normally start the month after your application is approved.
Our colleague John Place will publish a post later this week which will go into more detail on our plans for Higher Tier.
Learn more
Printable document
Visit the SFI site
Our dedicated SFI site gives an overview of the scheme, with details of the actions, eligibility and support.
GOV.UK
- SFI scheme information: expanded offer for 2024
- The Funding for farmers, growers and land managers page on GOV.UK lists all the payments and grants available in England.
Leaflets
Download, print or share the following leaflets to learn more about the actions by theme:
- Arable and horticulture
- Livestock and grassland
- Resilient food production
- Nature friendly farming
- SFI checklist
30 comments
Comment by rob yorke posted on
some welcomingly evolving and adaptively cogent stuff (others might balk at the impact on some food production farming practices i.e. stocking rates).
though...."Endorsed actions require some approval by Historic England or Natural England (*or their contractors*)"
*this* can leave the door open to arguably subjective and sometimes overly precautionary approaches from 'approved' contractors' who may not have the time or insight to engage knowledgeable farmers/land managers to provide adaptively managed results-based outcomes which ELMs are so key to delivering.
best wishes
Comment by Cherry coward posted on
What are the rules for GRH6
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hello,
The guidance for GRH6 will be published in June.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by rob yorke posted on
Some evolving cogent stuff to be welcomed.
Though the section: "Endorsed actions require some approval by Historic England or Natural England (*or their contractors*)"
*this* can leave the door open to arguably subjective and sometimes overly precautionary approaches from 'approved' contractors'.
Who may not have the time or insight to engage knowledgeable farmers/land managers on their skillsets in being able to provide 'adaptively managed' results-based outcomes. Something which ELMs are to central to delivering free of the previous prescriptive approach.
best wishes, Rob
Comment by Lucy posted on
Can you include expanded and SFI options within a Hi - Tier agreement? E.g. SCR1 with GS13?
Or will the application only comprise Hi -Tier options?
Can you publish compatible land cover registered on RLR with each option for SFI and CS Hi Tier please.
Eg. WT6 (manage and restore reedbed) - what land cover is compatible?
Or SCR2 manage scrub - assume scrub will have to mapped on RLR first as notional feature?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Lucy,
You can integrate options from both the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreements in certain circumstances, but there are specific rules to follow.
For example, you mentioned SCR1 (woodland creation and maintenance) and GS13 (grassland management for target habitats). These options may be combined as long as they do not overlap in incompatible ways on the same parcel of land.
When it comes to combining SFI and CS options:
- SFI and CS Higher Tier options must be compatible and not conflict in terms of land use or management requirements. For example, if you have a CS option managing grassland (like GS13), you cannot apply an SFI action to the same area if they contradict each other’s objectives.
- Each scheme's action will apply to separate parcels or different times of the year if they are on the same land parcel.
Regarding compatible land cover registered on the Rural Land Register (RLR):
- Land must be correctly mapped on the RLR for eligibility, and specific land covers are required for certain options. For example, for option WT6 (manage and restore reedbed), the land must already be mapped as suitable wetland habitat.
- For SCR2 (manage scrub), yes, scrub must first be mapped on the RLR as a notional feature to be included in the agreement.
You can refer to specific Countryside Stewardship and SFI guidance or contact the Rural Payments Agency for detailed mapping and compatibility advice.
The contact details for RPA can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/rural-payments-agency
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Mark Topliff posted on
Hi,
If a farmer enters a SFI agreement but part way through that agreement they decide they would like to end it in whole or part either to look at entering the CS Higher-Tier or a Biodiversity Net Gain offering does SFI give that flexibility?
Cheers
Mark
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Mark,
Details on ending an SFI agreement are here for the 2023 offer:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfi-agreement-terms-and-conditions-for-the-sfi-2023-offer/sfi-agreement-terms-and-conditions#termination-of-anagreement
And here for the expanded offer: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024/sfi-agreement-terms-and-conditions-expanded-offer-for-2024#termination-of-anagreement
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by Mark Topliff posted on
Thank you
Comment by rob yorke posted on
Some evolving cogent stuff to be welcomed.
Though I note the section: "Endorsed actions require some approval by Historic England or Natural England (*or their contractors*)"
*this* can sometimes leave the door open to arguably subjective and sometimes overly precautionary approaches from 'approved contractors'.
Who, with respect, may not always have the time or insight to engage knowledgeable farmers/land managers on their skillsets in being able to provide 'adaptively managed' results-based outcomes. Something central to which ELMs are key to delivering free of the previous prescriptive approach.
best wishes, Rob
Comment by James H posted on
Hello,
I have heard that ED1 (educational access visits) may be included as an SFI offer later in the year? Given the disconnect between the general public and food production/the countryside in general, would you seriously consider including adult visits to the accepted groups? It currently appears to only include school and care settings with an upper age limit of 18. We have held visits with groups such as bee-keepers and local business groups and both were thoroughly engaged with learning the workings of a modern farm. I suggest not making the restrictions on group affiliations too great, many groups do not have entirely organised structures, but the visits are no less valuable from an education perspective, even simple social groups such as walking groups perhaps should be allowed. Photographic evidence and sign in form should be adequate as proof of visit?
Many Thanks
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi James,
The SFI guidance for the expanded offer says: 'Later in 2024, Defra will introduce: an educational access action, which will pay you to provide educational tours of your farm or woodland.' We've passed your comment onto the SFI policy team working on the actions - thank you for taking the time to share your views.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Paul posted on
I appreciate that we can only claim one SFI management payment under SFI23 regardless of how many SFI23 agreements we might have, but will we also receive a management payment for managing a SFI24 agreement?
For example, if we have claimed the management payment under an SFI23 agreement, and then we commence a separate SFI24 agreement (on the same SBI) in say, December, are we eligible for another payment to manage the SFI24 agreement?
Many thanks
Paul
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Paul,
The SFI management payment will only be paid for one SFI agreement for each farm business (SBI). If you enter more than one agreement, it will be paid for up to 50 hectares entered into the live agreement which started first.
The guidance is here; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024/sfi-scheme-information-expanded-offer-for-2024#:~:text=The%20SFI%20management%20payment%20is,2%20years%20of%20your%20agreement
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Tom posted on
Why is the No Till payment (SOH1) incompatible with the 2023 NUM3 option?
I have been no tilling for 13 years and will continue to establish all of my crops using no till including the legume fallow for the NUM3, but it seems I will not be able to claim the SOH1 for any of the area that the rotational option will be on over the 3 years, this is going to make me seriously regret signing up to the NUM3 option and affect my business financially.
Is this something that can be reviewed before official release, looking into the actual reality of how it will work for farmers? There are as many environmental benefits from direct drilling the legume fallow crop as any other crop.
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Tom,
Thanks for getting in touch. The guidance confirms that SOH1: No-till farming is eligible for establishing crops. For the purpose of this action, crops include: cash crops’ (a ‘cash crop’ means a crop grown to be harvested for commercial use), cover crops and temporary grassland. As such, NUM3 does not meet the criteria for crops under SOH1 https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/soh1-no-till-farming
For SOH1, we have stated that we acknowledge that CNUM3 can be established using no till and as a rotational action it would then be possible to include NUM3 within a rotation and still meet the overarching aims of SOH1. As such, we are exploring if we can extend the eligibility to allow for this.
Thanks,
The Team
Comment by Edward Price posted on
Why isn't "SPM3: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (more than 80%)" visible as a supplement when applying for SFI 2024?
Its shown on the website for https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms but not when you come to do the actual application.
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Edward,
The guidance for this is here: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/spm3-keep-native-breeds-on-grazed-habitats-supplement-more-than-80-percent
You can only do this supplemental action on eligible land that you’re grazing with livestock, which is entered into one of the following base actions:
CLIG3: Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (or LIG1 and LIG2 in the SFI 2023 offer)
AGF1: Maintain very low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land
AGF2: Maintain low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land
GRH6: Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland
OFC1: Organic conversion – improved permanent grassland
OFC2: Organic conversion – unimproved permanent grassland
OFM1: Organic land management – unimproved permanent grassland
OFM2: Organic land management – improved permanent grassland
The full guidance is here: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/spm3-keep-native-breeds-on-grazed-habitats-supplement-more-than-80-percent#where-you-can-do-this-action
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by jack wallbank posted on
Is it right your taking dalesbred sheep of the native breeds at risk
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Jack,
The current list of native breeds at risk is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-native-animal-breeds-at-risk-list/uk-native-breeds-at-risk-list-nbar
The list was updated a couple of weeks ago (24 July 2024). Dalesbred sheep are still on the list.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by jack wallbank posted on
Hi I'm looking at the hay making supplement late cut it says you have to have your meadows shut up for 9 weeks so if you shut them up say 25th of April is it 9 weeks from then or you still can't start before 15th july
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Jack,
Thanks for getting in touch. The guidance says you must allow the flowers and grasses to set seed. This will usually mean you must harvest the hay crop no earlier than:
- late June on land outside the severely disadvantaged areas (SDAs)
- mid-July on land in an SDA, where grass grows more slowly
Because the action says "usually", its not a hard rule and allows farmers to make hay earlier than that if the weather is good. You can find the full guidance here:
https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/grh7-haymaking-supplement#what-to-do
Hope that helps,
The Team
Comment by Craig Smith posted on
What's the timetable for letting us see the conditions and details on the 2024 SFI offer ?
We are waiting to make our cropping plans and this is very late now. We are already purchasing fertiliser and seed on presumption and incomplete information
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Craig,
The expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) opened in May. It's still open so if you want to apply, you can express your interest online: https://defragroup.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cSGsCBrA5Kim3H0
The scheme guidance is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024/sfi-scheme-information-expanded-offer-for-2024
You can find the voluntary advice under each action on GOV.UK's Find funding for land or farms page: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Craig Smith posted on
Hello I asked for am update on the SFI 24 scheme options and roll out and haven't seen my message or any updates yet, I'm aware of the current published material on actions but they seem incomplete and references to guidance notes are made in publications and blogs. We need clarity on these options/actions and the scheme more generally as I still feel we are planning and basing our farming decisions, including purchase of machinery and inputs on incomplete information, if this is the whole scheme just an acknowledgement would suffice and we can atleast galvanise our plans, its already late in the year to still be planning.
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Craig,
Thanks for getting in touch.
We published the scheme guidance for the expanded SFI offer on GOV.UK in May. On Monday, we updated the guidance to include technical changes and more information on supplemental SFI actions.
We also updated the SFI's terms and conditions and released the voluntary advice. The latter is listed under each action in the Find Tool: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms
This post includes the links to everything I've mentioned and gives a bit of context: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/05/an-update-on-sfi-and-our-agri-environment-schemes/. It also sets out the new capital grants.
GOV.UK is the official place to find the most up-to-date information on the scheme. You might wish to bookmark this page in particular: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers. If you click on the little box with the bell on the left hand side of the page, you'll get an email every time that page is updated.
If you haven't already, do take a look at the Farming Resilience Fund for free business advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-free-business-advice-for-your-farm
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by Charlie Raine posted on
Please can you advise where guidance on GRH6 is published. Who will be endorsing the action and what is the process for obtaining endorsement.
Sadly if it’s on species visible this will now be difficult
It seems this scheme is quite disjointed. Is there going to be a mechanism to add options to an existing sfi agreement. Or alternatively end a current agreement and start again?
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Charlie,
Guidance on GRH6 will be published here soon: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms
Here's the guidance for adding actions to SFI agreements: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-your-sfi-agreement-works#:~:text=Upgrading%20your%20agreement,you%20what%20date%20that%20is.
You can also have more than one SFI agreement.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by Lucy posted on
Is there a form to advise Defra/RPA/NE that you want to leave an HLS scheme early to go into SFI?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Lucy,
Thanks for getting in touch. Under the Terms and Conditions of your agreement, it is possible for you to end your agreement early, however due to complexity of closing agreement early, it may take some time to end your agreement and could result in a period of some months between one agreement ending and a new agreement starting.
We’ll provide more information about how to end your agreement early soon. Subscribe to the blog to receive updates as soon as they are available: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/subscribe/
Best wishes,
The Team