The Sustainable Farming Incentive, which is planned to launch in June, is 1 of 3 new Environmental Land Management schemes. Through the scheme, Defra want to support farmers to become more sustainable and to increase long-term food productivity. They also want to make sure that farmers have what they need to maintain the very highest levels of health and welfare for their animals and the environment. The objective is to have 70% of farmers in England in the scheme by 2028.
Improving the standards and payment rates
The standards and payment rates that will be available this year are:
Arable and horticultural soils standard
- Introductory level paying £22 per hectare
- Intermediate level paying £40 per hectare
Improved grassland soils standard
- Introductory level paying £28 per hectare
- Intermediate level paying £58 per hectare
Moorland standard
- Introductory level only, paying £10.30 per hectare plus additional £265 per agreement
There is an additional payment of £6.15 per hectare for common land with its own agreement.
Defra are also providing funding for a vet visit, through the Annual Health and Welfare Review which can be applied for later this year.
Improving the applications process
Applications will be made via the Rural Payments service, as was the case for the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot. There is no deadline and applications will be processed on a rolling basis by the RPA.
Eligibility
When the scheme launches, farmers who are eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will be eligible to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Agreements will be for 3 years, and applicants must have management control of the land for the full length of the agreement.
The scheme has also been designed so that tenants on a short-term rolling tenancy can enter that land into the scheme, provided they expect to have management control of it for the duration of the agreement.
Land can be in both a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement and Countryside Stewardship, but the actions must be compatible; you will not be able to claim twice for a similar activity on the same area of land from the two different schemes. When you apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive, any ineligible Countryside Stewardship agreement areas will automatically be removed.
Get ready to apply
You can only enter land into the Sustainable Farming Incentive standards which is eligible for the standard you choose. This means it needs to have an eligible land cover and be an eligible type for the standard.
You can choose which eligible land parcels to include, you don’t need to enter your full farm. Land can be added to the agreement at a certain point every 12 months but can’t be removed.
The full scheme guidance is now available to read on GOV.UK
