To increase uptake and make the Sustainable Farming Incentive financially more attractive, Defra have introduced a (SFI) Management Payment of £20 per hectare, for up to 50 hectares of land entered in the scheme. This means that farmers will receive up to £1,000 per year, in addition to their agreement, to cover the administrative costs of participation.
For a 50-hectare farm this represents a potential increase of as much as 50%. This reflects evidence from farmers already in the scheme that the current payments don’t fully account for the costs of entering and implementing an agreement. It will benefit small farms in particular as they are currently half as likely as the average farm to be in an environmental land management scheme.
This payment will be applied from January 2023 onwards to farmers who joined the SFI scheme in 2022.
Read more at: Introducing SFI Management Payments and changes to Countryside Stewardship rates – Future Farming (blog.gov.uk)
Find out more about the SFI scheme at: Sustainable Farming Incentive: full guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
