Farmers suffering the “cruellest betrayal” as government stops SFI
The government’s decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2024 actively harms nature and the environment
The rural economy is suffering from a cruel betrayal by the UK Government following its decision to close applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
Despite Labour’s promise that it would support this pioneering agricultural policy, it last night announced that “SFI has reached its completion” and that it stopped accepting new applications immediately. It has said that it will launch a new and improved SFI in the future.
All existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will also be taken forward.
CLA President Victoria Vyvyan says: “Of all the betrayals so far, this is the most cruel.
"SFI was the most ambitious, forward thinking and environmentally friendly agricultural policy seen anywhere in the world - it promised a fairer future for farmers and a greener future for the world. Labour promised to support it, but at the first available opportunity they have instead scrapped it."
It actively harms nature. It actively harms the environment. And, with war once again raging in Europe, to actively harm our food production is reckless beyond belief
Defra figures show that 50,000 farm businesses are managed under Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, with more than 37,000 multi-year live SFI agreements.
The government has said that Environmental Land Management scheme agreements will remain in place, including SFI, and that it will launch a new and improved SFI focused on food production, creating more resilient farm businesses alongside supporting nature recovery.
The redesign of the scheme will follow the spending review, which will take place in June.
Victoria adds: “This news came completely out of the blue, with no engagement, warning or opportunity to help ministers find better solutions to the problems they face.
“I am clear that this way of working needs to change, and we will speak directly to government about how to reset industry relations.”
The CLA is examining this announcement in detail and talking to Defra advisers to understand what this means for members. Further analysis will be published shortly.