With BPS reducing, SFI could provide a welcome boost in income.
The 2023 SFI Scheme is not one to be overlooked and is a step in the right direction, with 23 actions to pick and choose from farmers can select what is right for their business without having to sign up to anything they don’t want to.
Many of the payments such as Legumes on improved grassland (£102/ha) are payments for something that many grassland farms are likely to already be doing or would only be a small change to implement. If the grassland is considered low input, then £151/ha can be claimed instead of this. Herbal leys can now be claimed at £382/ha. Each farm is also paid a £20/ha administration payment for the first 50ha’s signed up. As well as this the scheme pays for BASIS and FACTs qualified advisors like us to visit your farm and create Integrated Pest Management (£989) and Nutrient Management Plans (£589) with the ambition of increasing use efficiency and reducing input bills.
The Hedgerow payments can also soon mount up if you are willing to manage them within their parameters, an example of the level of payment would be one client on a 300 acre farm receiving around £2,700 for this. On top of this £5.80/ha can be claimed plus a one off £95 for soil testing if it includes organic matter, and a soil management plan is in place.
The scheme runs for 3 years with an annual review, the first payment is prompt and future payments are made quarterly rather than annually as with previous schemes.
We can help with applications in full or simply just provide IPM or NMP plans as well full compliance folders for regulatory and audit purposes, so please do get in touch for any assistance.