With record numbers of farm businesses in farming schemes and the sustainable farming budget successfully allocated, on Tuesday the Government announced that it has stopped accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI24) with immediate effect.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has confirmed that all monies in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will also be taken forward.

Announcing the decision, the government said it had inherited farming schemes which were underspent, meaning millions of pounds were not going to farming businesses.

The SFI is the largest of schemes and now has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements.

A statement issued by Defra on Tuesday said:

“However, this Government inherited an uncapped scheme, despite a finite farming budget. The highest ever level of participation in SFI means the maximum limit has now been reached. Therefore, as SFI has reached its completion the Government is stopping accepting new SFI applications today.”

Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner commented:   

“We have now successfully allocated the SFI24 budget as promised.

“Environmental Land Management scheme agreements will remain in place, including SFI, and there will be a new and improved SFI on offer with details to follow the Spending Review. This will be underpinned by the Government’s cast iron commitment to food security, focusing on food production, creating more resilient farm businesses alongside supporting nature recovery. 

 ”The future SFI offer will build on what has made the current scheme effective.”

All existing SFI agreement holders will continue to be paid under the terms of their agreement for its duration.  Agreement holders who entered into a three-year SFI agreement earlier this year, will be paid until 2028.  

Any eligible submitted SFI application where the agreement has not yet started will also be considered.  For those in the SFI Pilot, they will be able to apply when the pilot agreement ends.This includes farmers who were in the Pilot, where their agreement has ended already but they do not yet have a live SFI agreement, who will also be able to apply. 

NFU describes sudden closure of SFI applications as ‘another shattering blow’ to farmers

Responding to the news that Defra was stopping all SFI applications without warning, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said:

“This is another shattering blow to English farms, delivered yet again with no warning, no understanding of the industry and a complete lack of compassion or care.

“We have had major concerns for years about whether there was the capability within Defra to deliver the agricultural transition post-Brexit. We have warned time and time again that large parts of the SFI were poorly designed and that the department was consistently failing to deliver it.

“Today’s terrible news was delivered with only 30 minutes warning to us before ministers briefed the press, leaving us unable to inform our members. There has been no consultation, no communication; there has been a total lack of the ‘partnership and co-design’ Defra loves to talk about. It is another example of the growing disregard for agriculture within the department….

“It leaves us with little choice but to see Defra as a failing department. The chaos has got worse and worse and farmers are paying the price. Bad decisions, misdirection, promises broken, no transparency and yet more financial disaster for farming.”