Farms might be higher off below SFI – GSC Grays

6 months ago 2 min read

Some farms might be higher off below the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and will justify a transition to regenerative farming, in line with GSC Grays.

The agricultural land and property specialist has calculated that SFI funds might exceed Fundamental Fee Scheme (BPS) funds (£232.22/ha in 2020).

Nonetheless, it mentioned, companies should already handle the land inside a regenerative system or be ready to make the required investments and adjustments to their farming operations to attain this.

It will embody:

Incorporating cowl crops and companion crops inside arable rotations;
Widespread use of legumes inside improved grassland;
Not making use of pesticides;
Funding in precision farming tools;
Adoption of a no-till system;
Institution of environmental buffer strips and plots.

On February 3, 2023, the Division for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs (Defra) introduced six further requirements for SFI and supplied a sign of fee charges for an extra 4 requirements out there in the summertime of 2023.

GSC Grays compiled a desk to point out what this implies in observe, for a 200ha combined farm comprising 100ha of arable land, 70ha of improved grassland and 30ha of unimproved grassland with an in depth utility of the SFI requirements.

Normal	Complete fee	Avg. fee/unit
SFI administration fee	£1,000	£50
Animal well being and welfare evaluation (cattle)	£522	£522
Improved grassland soils (ha)	–	–
Arable and horticultural soils (ha)	£4000	£40
Improved grassland (ha)	£775.60	£352.55
Low enter grassland (ha)	£4,530	£151
Hedgerows (m)	£460	£0.23
Built-in pest administration (ha)	£6,925.50	£69.26
Nutrient administration (ha)	£10,698	£142.64
Arable and horticultural land (ha)	£1,086.50	£639.12
Complete SFI fee	£29,997.60
Complete SFI fee/ha	£149.99

Desk: GSC Grays

GSC Grays mentioned the knowledge and figures within the desk are assuming choices are maximised the place attainable.

Normal	Complete fee	Avg. fee/unit
Utilizing precision farming approaches (grassland and arable)	£8,500	£50
No-till and direct drilling (arable)	£12,500	£25
Mixed whole SFI fee	£50,997.60
Mixed whole SFI fee/ha	£254.99

Desk: GSC Grays

Additionally, common fee charges for some requirements will range by farm, it mentioned, as requirements mix quite a lot of fee charges and ambition ranges, leading to various averages.

Regenerative farming

Jamie Charlton, GSC Grays farm enterprise advisor, mentioned that up till now, the fee charges launched by Defra to encourage the transition to a regenerative farming mannequin haven’t supplied ample monetary incentive to justify making the swap.

“We anticipate to see a rise in companies questioning whether or not their present farming system is essentially the most worthwhile and sustainable inside the new help fee construction,” he mentioned.

“We’d stress that the price of making use of these transitions will range by farm.

“However, prices should be evaluated in opposition to the attainable cost-savings achieved reminiscent of decreased consumption of gasoline and fertiliser in addition to the advantages of improved soil well being on elements reminiscent of water retention.”