New changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for 2024 will be made, including increased payments and new options such as support for precision farming and uplands and moorlands.
Defra Secretary Steve Barclay announced at today’s Oxford Farming Conference the ‘biggest upgrade’ to the UK’s post-Brexit farming schemes since the UK left the EU.
Updates include funding uplifts, streamlined application processes, enhanced environmental incentives and support for the roll out of new technology.
There will be a 10% increase in the average value of agreements in the SFI and Countryside Stewardship driven by increased payment rates, with uplifts automatically applied to existing agreements.
Around 50 new actions have been announced that farmers can get paid for, including actions for agroforestry and those driving forward agricultural technology such as robotic mechanical weeding.
Mr Barclay also unveiled enhanced payments for ‘creation’ and ‘maintenance’ options to improve the long term incentives for farmers to create habitats.
And premium payments for actions with the biggest environmental impact have been unveiled, such as £765 per hectare for nesting plots for lapwing, and £1,242 per hectare for connecting river and floodplain habitat.
Read more at: Defra unveils new SFI changes including increased payments and options – FarmingUK News
