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Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
An overview of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot scheme, including information on standards, payments, monitoring, inspections and reporting
Applications for the pilot have now closed. The Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 offer launched in summer 2023. To find out more about the SFI 2023 offer, read the SFI Handbook for the SFI 2023 offer.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme is one of our new schemes being developed to encourage environmental land management. The other schemes are Countryside Stewardship and Landscape Recovery.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme will reward farmers for managing their land in an environmentally sustainable way.
The full scheme launched in 2022, initially for farmers in England who currently get payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
This guidance covers a pilot version of the scheme.
Pilot version of the scheme
The Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot is in its early stages. Over 2,000 farmers submitted expressions of interest in 2021 and were invited to apply to take part.
These farmers will help make sure the scheme works in practice. This is part of a process called ‘co-design’. They will:
- implement the pilot version of the scheme on their farms
- take part in learning activities based on their experiences
- provide regular, comprehensive feedback on what’s working and what’s not
The pilot gives farmers an opportunity to help shape the future of farming in England.
Applications to the pilot have closed. However, you may be able to take part in other phases or other environmental land management schemes.
How the pilot works
You select land registered on your Rural Payments service account.
You then select Sustainable Farming Incentive ‘standards’ to apply to eligible land and to other features, like hedgerows.
You also choose an ambition level for each standard. If you select a higher level, you’ll be paid more.
Guidance for the pilot
This overview gives basic information about the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot.
There’s more detailed guidance on:
- learning activities - Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: how you’ll help Defra learn has more about what you must do to give feedback on the pilot, and related payments
- monitoring - Piloting the Sustainable Farming Incentive: monitoring explains how Defra will follow your progress, and gives details about site visits, records, changes of circumstance and breaches
- making changes - Changing your agreement offer covers what to do if you’ve received an agreement offer and want to change it
You can find all the guidance for the pilot scheme in one place. This also includes:
- the terms and conditions for your agreement
- the aims of the standards, which will be the focus of site visits
- the environmental outcomes and benefits of the standards
- a summary of advice for meeting the standards
You’ll find a link to these pages wherever they are useful.
Eligibility
Your eligibility
Pilot participants must:
- have been an eligible Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) applicant in 2020 or 2021
- be registered on the Rural Payments service
Land eligibility
You can enter land that:
- is in England
- is not common land or used for shared grazing
- does not have an existing agri-environment agreement on it other than SFI (subject to eligibility)- for example if you have a field in Countryside Stewardship, it will not be eligible for the pilot
Land included in a Countryside Stewardship capital-only agreement may be eligible.
You can still include land entered into the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot in your BPS application, provided it meets the BPS eligibility criteria.
You must have management control of the land included in your agreement so you can fulfil the actions in the standards on the land while the land is in the agreement. For the pilot, this means either:
- the owner occupier, farming the land yourself or employing a contractor
- a tenant with a Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 or an Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 tenancy
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether taking part in the pilot will breach the terms of your tenancy agreement.
If you only have access to land under a licence arrangement, it’s unlikely you have sufficient control of the land to carry out the actions under the standards in the pilot agreement.
Standards
A standard is a set of land management actions. The standards will help farmers to:
- create greener landscapes and improve biodiversity
- promote cleaner air and water
- guard against environmental risks such as climate change and flooding
The standards are a step towards achieving the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan goals and carbon net zero targets. Find out more about the environmental benefits of the standards.
You can choose standards that match the types of land on your farm, for example grassland, hedgerows, water bodies or woodland.
Initially, there are 8 standards in the pilot:
- arable and horticultural land
- arable and horticultural soils
- farm woodland
- hedgerows
- improved grassland
- improved grassland soils
- low and no input grassland
- water body buffering
Ambition levels
Most standards have 3 ambition levels that you can choose from:
- introductory
- intermediate
- advanced
The farm woodland standard only has one level.
Applying standards and ambition levels
In some cases, you can select more than one standard for the same area of land. For example, you could apply the arable land and arable soils standard to the same area of land and select the hedgerows standard for hedges around it.
The individual standards pages explain which standards can be applied together. If you select multiple standards for one area, you’ll have to do all the actions in each standard.
You can select a different ambition level for each standard in your agreement. For example, you could choose to do the intermediate hedgerows standard and introductory water body buffering standard.
You cannot select different levels of ambition for different land parcels under the same standard. For example, you cannot apply the introductory arable land standard to one land parcel and the intermediate arable land standard to another.
Your agreement
You’ll be offered a pilot agreement after your application is confirmed as successful. The agreement sets out details of what you are undertaking to do and what you’ll be paid in return.
Your agreement offer
You’ll get an email that will tell you your agreement offer is ready for you to check.
To view your agreement offer:
- Sign in to the Rural Payments service.
- Go to your ‘Business overview’ page.
- Select Environmental Land Management Applications and Agreements.
Make sure you check your agreement offer carefully.
Use the Help links in the Rural Payments service to find out how to:
- accept your offer
- reject it
- withdraw from the pilot
There’s separate guidance explaining how to make a change to your agreement offer.
You have 15 working days from the date your agreement is offered to accept, reject, amend or withdraw. If you need more time, contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
Electronically sign and accept your agreement offer online. Do not print it and send it by post, or email it.
Other parts of your agreement
Along with the standards that you’ve chosen, these also form part of your agreement:
The monitoring and learning guidance provides a mix of general information and some things that you must do as part of your agreement. Where the monitoring and learning guidance says that you ‘must’ do something, this forms part of your agreement.
Read the latest version of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot guidance. There may have been updates since you applied.
Payment
You’ll be paid for both:
- completing the actions in each standard
- taking part in learning activities
Payment for standards
In January 2022, we announced the outcome of our Countryside Stewardship revenue payment rates review. We have also reviewed the payment rates for the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot standards.
Some of the payment rates have increased. The rest have remained the same as the original payment rate.
For your agreement to show the revised payment rates, you need to sign into the Rural Payments service to ‘Generate’ and ‘Download’ an updated version of your agreement. This will update your agreement document.
This table shows the payment rates for each standard and ambition level for this pilot.
| Standard | Payment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory | Intermediate | Advanced | |
| Arable and horticultural: land | £37/hectare (ha) | £70/ha | £99/ha |
| Arable and horticultural: soils | £29/ha | £45/ha | £60/ha |
| Farm woodland | £49/ha | - | - |
| Hedgerows | £26/100 metre (m) | £34/100m | £37/100m |
| Improved grassland | £32/ha | £73/ha | £103/ha |
| Improved grassland: soils | £34/ha | £55/ha | £84/ha |
| Low and no input grassland | £22/ha | £197/ha | £215/ha |
| Water body buffering | £25/100m | £45/100m | £51/100m |
Some standards have additional actions with extra payments.
We’ll keep the payment rates under review as the pilot progresses. If payment rates are revised, any change would come into effect from a future date. It would not be applied retrospectively.
You can read more detail about payments on each individual standards page.
Capital items funding
Applications for Countryside Stewardship (CS) Capital Grants (Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot) have now closed.
Funding for capital works is now available through the Countryside Stewardship (CS) capital grants. If you’re successful, you’ll be offered a separate CS capital grant agreement. The terms of your CS capital grant agreement will apply to any capital items funding.
To find out which capital items may support the aims for each standard, read the ‘Funding for capital items’ section on each individual standards page.
If you already have a CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement supporting your SFI Pilot Standards agreement, you have until the end date of your capital agreement, or until the end of your SFI Pilot Standards agreement, whichever is soonest, to complete the works. You will have 3 months after this date to submit your claim.
For all capital works you must only begin the capital items work (or order materials) once your capital agreement starts.
Payment for learning activities
Each pilot participant will be paid £5,000 for taking part in learning activities in each year of the pilot. This is the pilot participation payment.
This is a flat rate payment, meaning that everyone is paid the same regardless of how much land they have in their agreement.
We monitor participation in the learning activities. Where this is not undertaken to the level required, following a review we may need to withhold or recover the participation payment.
To receive the participation payment, you need to create and maintain a learning journal, and a land management plan.
How you’ll be paid
You’ll be paid quarterly (except for capital items). This means your annual payment is divided into 4 instalments and you’ll be paid every 3 months from the start of your agreement. Agreements started from November 2021, with the first quarterly payments from February 2022.
Each quarterly payment you receive includes both the payment for the standards in your agreement and your pilot participation payment. They are not separate payments.
When you’re paid, you’ll receive a remittance advice. Read the guidance on what this shows.
If you have a debt on another scheme, it may be recovered from payments due under your Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot agreement.
Capital item payments will follow a claim-back process - you’ll pay for a capital item and then claim back from Defra.
Co-design and learning
As part of your agreement, you’ll take part in learning activities. These activities help Defra learn what is working and what is not.
The pilot participation payment pays you for this learning activity.
The activities will take up to 15 hours per month. Most of these hours will be ‘thinking while doing’ – for example, you’d be considering the scheme and how it could be improved while you’re planning or physically undertaking work. A smaller number of hours would involve desk-based work.
You must read the learning activities guidance. This gives more detail about:
- your commitments
- kinds of learning activity
- how we monitor learning activities
Monitoring and support
The Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot will use a new model for monitoring the delivery of agreements. It will focus on outcomes and improvement instead of penalties, while still protecting public money.
The pilot will test this model. You’ll give feedback on it as part of your learning activities. This will help Defra make improvements and develop a simple and effective monitoring approach that supports long-term success.
Defra will use various techniques to see whether you’re achieving the aims of the standards and understand what is working successfully. If you’re not able to achieve the aims, Defra will work with you to explore why. For example, there may be a gap in the guidance, or a standard might need to be amended.
This approach will be piloted with a combination of:
- site visits
- virtual site visits, where possible
- administrative checks
- remote monitoring - for instance, using satellite images, aerial images or land-mapping data
There’s more information in the monitoring guidance. You must read this guidance.
If you cannot comply with your pilot agreement
Defra will work with pilot participants to understand where and why they cannot meet their pilot agreement obligations. We’ll support you to get back on track wherever possible.
The pilot is a space to learn and improve. Participants will be able to share learning and experience.
Where there’s a confirmed breach of an agreement, Defra may end that agreement. You may need to repay all payments received up to that point for both the standards and the learning activities.
If someone intentionally commits an offence, such as fraud, Defra will take action.
Annual declaration
You must submit an annual declaration each year for the duration of your pilot agreement, to confirm progress of your agreement up to that point.
You’ll complete and submit your annual declaration online in the Rural Payments service. We’ll remind you when your annual declaration is due and provide more information to help you complete it.
You cannot amend your annual declaration after you submit it. Contact the RPA if you’ve made a mistake.
Read the monitoring guidance for more details. This guidance forms part of your agreement.
When your declaration is due
You’ll be told when your annual declaration is due at the start of your agreement. Your first annual declaration is due 10 months after your agreement starts. Your next annual declaration will be 12 months after that, with the final annual declaration due at the end of your agreement term.
For the first year, you can find the annual declaration period that applies to your agreement below.
| Agreement start date | Annual declaration opens | Annual declaration closes |
|---|---|---|
| 01 November 2021 | 01 September 2022 | 30 September 2022 |
| 01 December 2021 | 01 October 2022 | 31 October 2022 |
| 01 January 2022 | 01 November 2022 | 30 November 2022 |
| 01 February 2022 | 01 December 2022 | 31 December 2022 |
| 01 March 2022 | 01 January 2023 | 31 January 2023 |
| 01 April 2022 | 01 February 2023 | 28 February 2023 |
| 01 May 2022 | 01 March 2023 | 31 March 2023 |
| 01 June 2022 | 01 April 2023 | 30 April 2023 |
For the second year, you can find the annual declaration period that applies to your agreement below.
| Agreement start date | Annual declaration opens | Annual declaration closes |
|---|---|---|
| 01 November 2021 | 01 September 2023 | 30 September 2023 |
| 01 December 2021 | 01 October 2023 | 31 October 2023 |
| 01 January 2022 | 01 November 2023 | 30 November 2023 |
| 01 February 2022 | 01 December 2023 | 31 December 2023 |
| 01 March 2022 | 01 January 2024 | 31 January 2024 |
| 01 April 2022 | 01 February 2024 | 29 February 2024 |
| 01 May 2022 | 01 March 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| 01 June 2022 | 01 April 2024 | 30 April 2024 |
If you do not submit your declaration on time
If you do not submit your annual declaration when it’s due, we’ll contact you and offer additional support and guidance.
If you do not submit your declaration after this, your payments may be withheld or your agreement may be ended.
If you declare that you cannot fulfil your agreement
If you declare that you cannot fulfil your agreement, we’ll contact you to discuss what has happened. Where possible, we’ll work with you to fix any issues.
Amending your agreement
Agreements are intended to be more flexible in the Sustainable Farming Incentive than has been possible for current schemes.
You can amend your agreement every 12 months from its start date to:
- add or remove a land parcel
- add or remove a standard
- increase or decrease the ambition level for a standard
You can only ask us to amend your agreement during an ‘annual change period’. This is so we can update your agreement to reflect the amendment, if it’s accepted, and it can take effect from the start of your agreement’s next full year.
The timing of this annual change period depends on the start date of your agreement. You will not be able to request an amendment during your agreement’s final year as the agreement will end when its 3-year term is completed.
For the first year, you can find the annual change period that applies to your agreement below.
| Agreement start date | Annual change period opens | Annual change period closes |
|---|---|---|
| 01 November 2021 | 08 August 2022 | 07 October 2022 |
| 01 December 2021 | 01 September 2022 | 31 October 2022 |
| 01 January 2022 | 01 October 2022 | 30 November 2022 |
| 01 February 2022 | 01 November 2022 | 31 December 2022 |
| 01 March 2022 | 01 December 2022 | 31 January 2023 |
| 01 April 2022 | 01 January 2023 | 28 February 2023 |
| 01 May 2022 | 01 February 2023 | 31 March 2023 |
| 01 June 2022 | 01 March 2023 | 30 April 2023 |
For the second year, you can find the annual change period that applies to your agreement below.
| Agreement start date | Annual change period opens | Annual change period closes |
|---|---|---|
| 01 November 2021 | 15 August 2023 | 14 October 2023 |
| 01 December 2021 | 01 September 2023 | 31 October 2023 |
| 01 January 2022 | 01 October 2023 | 30 November 2023 |
| 01 February 2022 | 01 November 2023 | 31 December 2023 |
| 01 March 2022 | 01 December 2023 | 31 January 2024 |
| 01 April 2022 | 01 January 2024 | 28 February 2024 |
| 01 May 2022 | 01 February 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| 01 June 2022 | 01 March 2024 | 30 April 2024 |
We can only consider amendment requests received during the annual change period. If you do not submit your amendment request by the annual change period deadline that applies to your agreement, we’ll have to reject it. In that case, you’ll need to submit another amendment request during the relevant annual change period in the following year.
There is no limit to the number of amendments you can ask for, but it would be helpful if you submit all the amendments in a single request, wherever possible.
We’ll consider all agreement requests received during the relevant change period. If your amendment request is accepted, we’ll confirm this. For those that cannot be accepted, we’ll let you know why.
If we accept your amendment request, it will take effect from the start of your agreement’s next full year and your payments will change from then. It will not be applied retrospectively, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Your agreement will still last 36 months from its original start date and the amendment will apply for the rest of its original term.
If you're amending your agreement to add land, add standards or increase the ambition level of an existing standard, you'll need to complete all of the required actions for that standard within 12 months from when the amendment starts. For example if your amendment is effective from 1 November 2022, the actions for the standard and relevant ambition level will need to be completed by 31 October 2023.
We'll ask you to sign an amended agreement document that reflects the amendment you've requested. We'll notify you when this change has been made and you'll be asked to sign the amended agreement within the Rural Payments Service within 15 working days. If you do not sign it by that deadline, your amended agreement will not start and we may be unable to make payments to you for the agreement years affected by the amendment.
If your agreement is amended to add land, you’ll need to request another SFI Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (SFI HEFER) on the HEFER portal. This will tell you about any known historic or archaeological features on the land added to your SFI pilot agreement, including scheduled monuments. It will also tell you how they affect the actions you can take under the standards on that land.
If your agreement is amended to add land, or add a standard or increase an ambition level on land that’s designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), you may need to get consent from Natural England. You do not need to get this consent from Natural England before your agreement is amended, but you must give notice to Natural England and get its consent before you carry out any listed operations requiring Natural England consent (ORNEC) on SSSI land.
You are responsible for making sure that you have complied with the consenting requirements set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 before you carry out any operations. If you do not, you may be committing an offence.
Read guidance explaining how to request an amendment to an agreement.
Reporting changes of circumstance
You must tell us as soon as reasonably possible if there’s a change in your circumstances that affects your eligibility for the pilot, the amount of money you should get or your ability to fulfil your agreement. These changes are not the same as requesting an amendment.
We’ll look at each of these on a case-by-case basis.
Read the monitoring guidance for more details. This guidance forms part of your agreement.
Contact the RPA to declare a change of circumstances.
How long your agreement lasts
Your agreement will last for 36 months from its start date.
If you want to leave the pilot
You can ask to end your agreement at any time. However, you may have to repay payments already made to you for the standards and learning activities (the pilot participation payment).
The payment for the standards and the pilot participation payment are based on you delivering your agreement obligations throughout the relevant full agreement year.
If you have delivered your agreement obligations, including submitting the annual declaration, for the full agreement year, you will not have to repay payments already made to you for that year.
If your agreement ends mid-way through an agreement year, you won’t have delivered your agreement obligations for the full agreement year. You’ll therefore need to repay all payments received for that agreement year. This includes payments for the standards and the pilot participation payment.
If you need to complain or appeal
Contact RPA if you want to make a complaint or appeal a decision. Read our complaints procedure to find out how.
Contact the RPA
Fill in the query form or send an email with ‘Sustainable farming incentive pilot’ in the subject line to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Include your Single Business Identifier (SBI).
You can also call or write.
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm, except bank holidays
Find out about call charges
PO Box 352
Worksop
S80 9FG
See all the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot guidance.
