SFI soils payments given a boost for 2023
In August, farmers will be able to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2023. In analysis released this morning by AHDB, we show the advantages of this latest version of the scheme.
SFI 2023 actions for soils were published by Defra in late June. We’ve compared them with the SFI 2022 scheme.
Main findings show that:
SFI 2023 will have more flexibility. Farmers as can choose actions rather than having to carry out a list of defined activities under various standards. Farmers who are already taking part in the SFI scheme will have their agreements updated to reflect the 2023 criteria.
Farmers will receive higher payments. Published rates for the soils actions under SFI 2023 are considerably larger than their SFI 2022 counterparts. The net payments, which take into account the costs involved in carrying out the actions, are also higher for 2023.
The improvement in a farm’s net profit levels, as a result of the increased net payment is only a percent or two at most. This is because the reduction in Direct Payments far outweighs the additional income from SFI payments.
To make a more substantial improvement in the overall net profit, farmers will need to ‘stack’ multiple compatible actions together. We will be following up on this analysis by looking at stacking various actions together in the coming weeks.
For more information and further details on how the SFI has evolved, 2022 vs 2023 comparison of SFI payments and further analysis into what this means for arable soils and grass land soils, please read the full article here.
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