At the Oxford Farming Conference on January 4th, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay set out the biggest upgrade to the UK’s farming schemes since leaving the EU.
To achieve their ambitious environmental and food production targets, the government want to support even more farmers to get involved by making environmental schemes and regulation more attractive, fair, and workable.
The offer in 2024
Update to scheme payment rates
To reflect current market conditions, payment rates will increase by an average of 10% for Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreements. If you have an existing SFI or CS agreement, any increases will be applied automatically where applicable.
50 new actions added to SFI scheme
Around 50 new actions are being added to the SFI scheme to be delivered across a range of different farming practices, including precision farming and agroforestry for the first time. The new actions will improve the offer for all farm types, but especially those on moorland and grassland.
Following feedback, more ‘maintenance’ actions will be introduced, alongside improving existing actions to pay farmers who are already protecting the environment. For example, through maintaining grasslands, wetlands and scrub. These changes have been made so that farmers will get paid more for existing actions to maintain habitats, with the price of maintaining species rich grassland rising from £182 to £646 per hectare.
More actions will also be available for shorter 3-year agreements, allowing greater flexibility. This will be of particular benefit to tenant farmers.
Precision farming actions will be introduced which use technology to target farming activities and reduce the use of costly pesticides or fertilisers.
Farmers will be able to submit their applications for the 2024 offer from this summer, and the timeline for agreements being offered will be accelerated to help farmers benefit from the changes earlier than in previous years.
Single application service
To make schemes more flexible and easier to access, from the summer there will be a streamlined single application service for farmers to apply for SFI and CS Mid Tier actions. This will replace the separate application windows and processes.
A separate process will continue to operate for CS Higher Tier agreements, with agreements being offered through a simpler, clearer and faster service. Applications for Higher Tier will also be through a rolling application window from Summer 2024.
This will mean you can apply for some 3 year options, and some 5 or 10 year options, and when the 3 year options end, you will be able to apply for more options/ actions to replace them.
After 2025, Defra will start offering other schemes through this integrated service, including the England Woodland Creation Offer.
Premium payments
Premium payment rates will be introduced from 2024 for the 21 high priority actions listed below. These are for actions that will achieve the biggest environmental impact.
| Theme | Action | 2024 payment rate with premium (per ha) |
| Arable | Nesting plots for lapwing | £765 |
| Lowland heath | Create lowland heathland | £711 |
| Lowland Peat | Raise water levels in cropped or arable peat soils to near the land surface | £1,409 |
| Lowland Peat | Raise water levels in permanent grassland peat soils to near the land surface | £1,381 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain very low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land | £248 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain very low density in-field agroforestry on more sensitive land | £248 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land | £385 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain low density in-field agroforestry on more sensitive land | £385 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain medium density in-field agroforestry | £595 |
| Agroforestry | Maintain high density in-field agroforestry | £849 |
| Grassland | Manage species-rich floodplain meadows | £1,070 |
| Moorland | Low grazing on moorland | £53 |
| Moorland | Limited grazing on moorland | £66 |
| Water | 6 metre to 24 metre 3-dimensional (3D) waterbody buffer strip | £1,182 |
| Water | Supplement: enhanced floodplain storage | £366 |
| Water | Manage features on arable land for flood and drought resilience and water quality | £1,241 |
| Water | Manage grassland for flood and drought resilience and water quality | £938 |
| Water | Connect river and floodplain habitats | £1,242 |
| Water | Manage riparian and water edge habitats | £1,186 |
| Water | Make room for a river to move | £1,489 |
| Species | Create scrub and open habitat mosaics | £588 |
More information on the new actions coming in during 2024, and the combined application process, can be found here: Technical annex: The combined environmental land management offer – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Regulation approach: advise and prevent
Defra will continue to prioritise an ‘advise and prevent’ approach across schemes and regulation to make things fairer for all farmers participating in schemes.
Help & Advice
For further advice or help with applying for any scheme, please contact our Stewardship & Grants Team on 01981 590514.
Read more at: Agricultural Transition Plan update January 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)