A leading property consultancy is advising farmers to plan ahead after the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) was unveiled by Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds. David Kinnersley, Head of Agribusiness at Fisher German, says that even though full details have not yet been revealed, an anticipated short application window means farmers should begin planning anyway to make the most of the opportunity.

After an incredible amount of uncertainty, it is welcome that Defra has confirmed England’s Sustainable Farming Incentive SFI will reopen this year.

The government has promised to improve the SFI offer to make it simpler and more focused, improve fairness and accessibility, and provide certainty and transparency. The first application window will open in June for small farms and those without existing environmental land management agreements, followed by a second window open to all farmers.

But now the dust has settled following the announcement, farmers will probably be wondering what to do next.

While the devil is in the detail and further clarity is needed, it is likely that there will be a short application window for the scheme, meaning that farms should start thinking about what they would like to do now based on their business objectives.

Planning now with a view to adapting these plans as more information comes to light will put farms in the best possible position to engage, rather than needing to start from scratch and potentially make rushed decisions.

Although we don’t have a clear idea of what SFI actions will be available, we can predict that the main themes will likely remain similar. However, I imagine they will be more specific, provide less choice and include financial caps.

I would predict that some of the more difficult to monitor in-field arable options such as companion crops will fall away in favour of more grass margins and buffer zones which are easier to audit. I also think there will still be options around pollinators and wild bird food.

While these are very much predictions and we await further details around the exact options, it will be interesting to see if options to manage water quality are a key driver. This is an option that could have more scope to be delivered via private funding rather than public funding, which the government should be aiming to achieve. 

Another big question mark around the SFI is how this will affect those larger farms under Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier schemes. Those with schemes due to expire last autumn were offered a one-year roll on, and there will be another tranche due to expire in autumn 2026.

It is unclear if the schemes will be rolled on further, if these farms will be expected to apply for the SFI, meaning an incredibly large number of applications and the need for significant funding, or if there are other plans in the background. 

But whatever the size, farms thinking of applying for the SFI should start making plans now. Those already under the old CS schemes should analyse what is working and what they would like to change, while those not under the SFI should look at the previous actions available and what could potentially be introduced.

Farms can start to be mapped to support with this, and local biodiversity objectives could also be taken into consideration. All of this would put farms in the best possible position before more details come to light.