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An update on SFI and our agri-environment schemes 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: environmental land management schemes, Sustainable Farming Incentive
Combine Harvester at work in Bradfield St George with farmer in foreground

It's been a while since our last post. We’re glad to be back! Over the past month, we've been welcoming Defra's new ministerial team, who are fully committed to environmental land management schemes. We've been working with them to optimise our schemes and grants for farmers, food security and nature recovery. In this post, we’ll update you on the SFI rollout, provide links to new supplementary scheme guidance and share details on endorsed actions and capital items.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive: stats to know

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Sustainable Farming Incentive
SFI agreement holding farmer looks out over his flock of sheep

Today, we updated the data showing the uptake of actions in Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and the uptake of options in Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (CS). In this post, I’ll share an overview of the data for the Sustainable Farming Offer in 2023. I’ll also include some findings from research we conducted with around 500 SFI agreement holders, advisers and stakeholders.

A test and trials spotlight: Weald to Waves

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: environmental land management schemes
Thumbnail image showing a clip of a participant at a desk with a map

Farmers and land managers participating in Weald to Waves share their experiences of taking part in tests and trials. The test is part of a wider project, led by Knepp Estate, which aims to build a wildlife corridor stretching from Ashdown Forest to the Sussex coast. Along the way, they share with us how they brought together farmers on the route to develop group agreements, management plans and funding mechanisms for the corridor.

Landscape Recovery: building long-term agreements

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments to restore landscapes and ecosystems

Landscape Recovery supports large-scale, long-term management of land for the benefit of sustainable food production and the environment. Many of the 22 projects in Round 1 are now halfway through the Project Development Phase (PDP). Our ability to co-design this scheme is founded on open and honest relationships with project teams. In this post, we share a summary of the work to develop long-term agreements.

Environmental land management in 2024: details of actions and payments

Sheep grazing in field with trees and farmland in the distance

Today we published an update to the Agricultural Transition Plan on GOV.UK. It includes our progress, priorities and plans for the coming years. In this post, I'll share a summary of the update which includes details of scheme payment rates, premium payments, new actions and plans for a single application service.

Landscape Recovery: ‘We want to prove that this works and it can work across the country’

The Evenlode team

In this post, the team behind the Evenlode Landscape Recovery Project share their plans to restore streams and rivers, protect threatened native species, improve natural habitats and adapt to climate change while continuing to productively farm and create new revenue streams for farmers in the area.