Defra has announced, that from today (March 11), it has stopped accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI 24), due to demand.听
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It said more than 50,000 farm businesses were benefitting from farming schemes and more money was being spent through the SFI than ever.
Defra
It wanted to reassure farmers that 鈥榚very penny in every existing SFI agreement' will be paid, and outstanding eligible applications' will be taken forward.
Sustainable Farming Incentive
It said SFI24 now has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements and not only delivered sustainable food production and nature's recovery for today and the years ahead, but also 鈥榩ut money back into farmers pockets.'
Daniel Zeichner
This evening (March 11) in a press media huddle, the Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said any future scheme would be 'better thought out' and would be 'properly capped'.
"Basically we have inherited a scheme which was allocated on a first come, first serve basis and would always reach a point where it would be finished and that is now.
"We will have a discussion with everyone and see how we can best take this scheme forward and how we can manage it effectively."听
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When probed about a time frame for the next version of SFI, he refused to give a timeline, but said it would be 'after the spending review.'
"I am proud we have got more money than we gave ever had before out through these environmental schemes," he said.听
'Uncapped scheme'
The Government has blamed the previous Conservative Government for inheriting an 鈥榰ncapped scheme', and said with a finite farming budget, SFI has now reached its 鈥榤aximum limit' and can no longer accept new SFI applications from today.
NFU
Farming chiefs have blasted the decision, adding trust in the Government would plummet even further.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said many farmers 'caught out' between BPS and SFI would be facing a serious cashflow crisis and may be questioning their future.
"Two weeks ago Defra Secretary Steve Reed stood at our conference and I honestly felt like all the bad news was out of the way. We have been calling for a reset and we genuinely want to work with the department but there was absolutely no sign of this coming," said Mr Bradshaw.
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"Everyone had the tap turned off on BPS and now half of the industry is in SFI and half are not.
Agricultural Budget听
"We were told there was an underspend in the agriculture budget but now Defra say they have over committed, so which is it?
"Confidence and trust in Government were already at rock bottom and the feeling is that this Government really does not understand farming.
"I genuinely worry how some of those farms are going to work their way through this."
Mr Bradshaw said the union was pushing for an 'in depth' discussion with Defra as soon as possible.
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'Betrayal'
Country Land and Business Association president Victoria Vyvyan said 'of all the betrayals so far, this is the most cruel.'
"SFI was an 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.听
Nature and the environment听
"It actively harms nature. It actively harms the environment.听 And, with war once again raging in Europe, to actively harm our food production is reckless beyond belief."
David Eudall, AHDB economics & analysis director said the 'sudden timing of this change' has 'shocked' the industry.听
AHDB听
"Because so many farmers have joined the SFI, the government has now reached the limit of its farming budget for this program. AHDB analysis shows that the farming budget had already been significantly eroded by farm input inflation. All existing agreements will continue, and farmers who have already applied and are eligible will still be accepted into the program.
"There would have been many farmers who had been planning to enter SFI schemes as a way of managing financial risk across their businesses.
"With the closure of the scheme overnight this now adds to what was an already challenging financial situation. Many farmers in England are continuing to see a challenging marketplace with volatile commodity prices for outputs and higher priced inputs."
He said farmers in England were in a 'more uncertain situation' now.
Budget
Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said: "More farmers are now in schemes and more money is being spent through them than ever before. That is true today and will remain true tomorrow.鈥�
"We have now successfully allocated the SFI24 budget as promised."鈥�
'New and improved SFI offer'
Defra has confirmed Environmental Land Management Scheme agreements will remain in place, including SFI, and there will be a 鈥榥ew and improved SFI on offer with details to follow the Spending Review.'
It said the future SFI offer will build on what has made the current scheme effective and will be another step in the Government's New Deal for farmers to 鈥榮upport growth and return farm businesses to profitability'.
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