SFI will help farmers manage land to improve food production and farm sustainably.
SFI will pay farmers to do things that support food production and are good for the environment. In 2022, there are two soils ‘standards’ and one moorland ‘standard’. We’ll be rolling out more standards in 2023-2025, so you’ll be able to add more standards to your agreement and get paid for doing more.
Information on the future SFI rollout will be on GOV.UK.
KEY FEATURES
• If you and your land are eligible, you can get an agreement
• You can choose how much land to enter – there’s no minimum or maximum area
• Agreements will last for 3 years
• You’ll be paid on a quarterly basis – your first payment will be made 3 months after your agreement starts
• You can request changes to your agreement each year – add more standards, increase the levels for existing standards, or add more land
AM I ELIGIBLE?
You can apply for SFI if:
• you’re eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme
• the land is wholly located in England and eligible for the
standard you select
You’ll also need to have management control of the land for the 3-year SFI agreement. This will usually be the person actively farming the land who is the owner occupier or tenant.
For ‘rolling’ year-by-year tenancies, you can enter this land into SFI if you expect to have control for the full 3 years.
It’s possible to include the same land in SFI and another scheme (such as Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship) if:
• you and your land are eligible for each scheme
• the activities or outcomes you’re being paid for under each
scheme are compatible
• you’re not being paid for a similar activity or outcome on
the same area of land at the same time (“double funding”)
To find out how this works for specific schemes, read the SFI guidance on GOV.UK