The entire budget for the second application window of England's Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) was allocated within hours of opening on Tuesday 22 September, leaving many thousands of would-be applicants without support.

The window opened at 10am with £233m available, including £3m rolled over unclaimed from Window 1, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said. Within two hours it reported that 25 per cent had been allocated, 90 minutes later 50 per cent, and just before 4pm it confirmed the window was closed and the money gone.

Farming minister Stephen Morgan said the scheme had been built "to be simpler and fairer", backed food production and practical sustainable land management, and that Defra would set out next steps for SFI in 2027 soon.

George Dunn, chief executive of the Tenant Farmers Association, said the rush was expected, with land agents queuing applications ready for the opening. Many applicants would have failed to get in, he said, which would be "devastating" for businesses already hit by severe drought and disease, especially bluetongue, and Defra urgently needed to explain its plans for SFI27.

Advisers also reported glitches with the Rural Payments Agency system. Natalie Gaibani, head of farming at Strutt & Parker, said it had flagged clashing actions in some cases and stopped farmers with expiring agreements selecting options they should have been able to, forcing her team to submit the closest possible applications and write to the agency about the problems.

Joe Evans, deputy president of the Country Land and Business Association, said the shortage of budget would jeopardise farmers' ability to keep delivering environmental work, and called on Defra to give clear guidance to those who miss out.

Photo: Bikeboy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: Farmers Weekly