Sustainable farming incentive

At the time of writing, the Government has just launched the ‘expression of interest’ phase of the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, which is due to launch in mid-2022. Farmers can now apply to be part of the pilot stage, which starts in October and is intended to be a collaborative process to ensure the scheme is successful. The scheme will offer payments for carrying out ‘environmentally sustainable actions’ and comes in response to the UK no longer being part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. According to Defra, “this is the biggest change to agricultural policy in half a century”.

The scheme is intended to promote sustainable practices and play a part in reducing the environmental impact of agriculture on the route to net zero. While horticultural land and soils are included in the standards set out under the pilot scheme, the prescribed actions are very much focused on outdoor growing and seem to exclude those who solely grow protected crops. No doubt, the incentives will be welcomed by those who are eligible, and hopefully the pilot phase will highlight any issues and ensure there can be no ‘gaming of the system’, as has been seen in previous incentive schemes. However, unlike the Renewable Heat Incentive, for example, which was designed to help make renewable technologies more affordable, the SFI seems to be more about paying farmers to develop their skills in conservation methods and for their time investment. Giving the agriculture sector a helping hand to reduce its environmental impact is surely a good thing, but with three levels of actions (introductory, intermediate and advanced) and incentive payments to choose from, does this now effectively put a price on nature?

If you have any queries, please call the NFU Energy team on 024 7669 8899.

Ed Hardy, NFU Energy