SFI 2023 was closed to new applications on 10th June. General applications were opened for SFI 2024 on 22nd July. So, what’s the difference and what is the application process?
This article was first published in Niab Landmark, Autumn 2024
The main difference is SFI 2024 has a lot more options than SFI 2023 did with over 100 compared to 23. The 2024 scheme is not linked to BPS claims, so is open to any farmers or land managers who have ‘management control’ of the land for the agreement period and the land is deemed eligible. The need to have at least 5 hectares of land also no longer applies. Many of the 2024 options have been brought in from Countryside Stewardship and sometimes modified to fit better alongside other SFI options. A very common modification is reducing the time the options needs doing to 3 years, but some are for 5 years.
Some options will also now require approval (endorsement) by Natural England or Historic England staff, one of these (GRH6) is open for applications now. Others will follow later in 2024 for actions for farmland wildlife and habitats on grassland, heritage, wood pasture, orchards, coastal habitats and waterbodies. These will be published on the ‘Find funding for land or farms’ online tool before they’re available for applications.
Payments are also planned to be available for having educational visits.
The application process
The application mechanism is broadly the same as it was for SFI 2023. If you already have an SFI 2023 agreement, you will need to do a separate, new, application for SFI 2024. This won’t affect the 2023 agreement you already have, it will just be additional to it and be on a different start and finish time.
Full information about the scheme and application process can be found at;
Currently, there is still a need to submit ‘An Expression of Interest’ form online to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) before being invited to make an application. Once invited to apply, you have 60 days to complete your application.
Where an application includes endorsed options, the endorsement process may delay your application being accepted. Defra suggest this can be avoided by applying under a separate agreement for endorsed options.
Defra have produced a short (6 minutes), ‘how to apply online’ video to help you through the application process.
For an individual business, deciding how best to knit different agreements together will need to be considered during the application process. Some help from an agronomist or other farm adviser is probably a good idea, though there is no need to employ such a person.
An Introduction to SFI 2024
A summary of the 102 options and their ID codes can be found in ‘Annex B’, which can be found at
Defra have attempted to help people interested in applying through the maze of options by introducing a funding selection tool. This tool allows you to select options you are most interested in via land type (arable, grassland, upland etc) and via ‘area of interest’ (e.g. boundary management, soils, water quality, historic environment etc.). The ‘areas of interest’ relate to how Defra views the option categories, which don’t always tally with how a grower might think.
This tool can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms.
Alternatively, it is quite easy to look at the list of options in the contents section of the PDF version of the handbook document, choose ones you are interested in, then click on the option title to go directly to the details of that option. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024
Limited Area Options
There are currently ten options, referred to as ‘limited area options’ that count towards the maximum of 25% of the eligible farmed area rule that was brought in earlier this year. These are:
CIPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips
CAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix
CAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land
CAHL3: Grassy field corners or blocks
CIGL1: Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management
CIGL2: Winter bird food on improved grassland
WBD3: In-field grass strips
AHW1: Bumblebird mix
AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland
AHW11: Cultivated areas for arable plants
Applicants can select as many ‘limited area’ actions as you wish, but the total eligible area you enter into them must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm. For example, if the total agricultural area of your farm is 100 hectares, you must only enter up to a total of 25 hectares of eligible land into any combination of one or more of these ‘limited area’ actions.
For the purpose of these ‘limited area’ actions:
‘farm’ means all the land parcels linked to your Single Business Identifier (SBI) at the point you apply for an SFI agreement – these parcels are shown on your digital maps
‘agricultural area’ means the area in each land parcel that’s registered with an arable, permanent grassland or permanent crops land cover
Defra will keep this 25% limited area action rule under review, including whether it should apply to the following actions in future:
AHW3: Beetle banks
AHW5: Nesting plots for lapwing
AHW12: Manage woodland edges on arable land
SCR1: Create scrub and open habitat mosaics
You can use the SFI limited area actions calculator to help calculate your eligible area limit for your next application.
Summary of currently available SFI 2024 Option types
This summary follows how Defra are categorising the options, to show how option types are grouped. Option codes carried over from 2023 now have a ‘C’ in front of their previous codes. So, for example, SAM1 is now CSAM1.
Soils – 7 options, 1 plan and 6 land management options (mostly cover crops), including no-till farming.
Integrated pest management - 4 options, 1 plan and 3 in-crop management.
Nutrient management – 3 options, 1 plan and 2 for legume growing.
Precision farming – 4 options for use of specific precision working equipment, including variable rate fertiliser application.
Boundary features – 5 options, 1 for hedgerow condition assessment, 4 for hedgerows, hedgerow trees, banked hedges or dry stone wall management.
Buffer strips – 8 options around either field headlands, ponds or trees.
Water bodies – 9 options, 2 for actual management of the feature, and 7 for protection via either buffering or reducing inputs, including nil fertiliser.
Farmland wildlife (arable and horticultural land) – 15 options for habitat creation or food provision, including overwinter stubbles.
Farmland wildlife (grassland) – 11 options for habitat creation, food provision, or reduced inputs, including the endorsed GRH6 option.
Species recovery and management – 4 supplement options for rare native livestock breeds.
Heritage - 5 options for management of traditional farm buildings, historic engineered waterbodies and archaeological features.
Moorlands - 11 options, 1 for condition assessment and 10 for livestock management. Additional payment for group applications on common land is still included.
Organic farming – 14 options specifically for organic farmers.
Agroforestry – 2 options to maintain existing projects.
Many options are for 3 years. However, some organic options are only for one - two years as they assist with organic conversion, whilst currently 10 options are for five years.
· BFS6 (6-12m habitat margins by watercourses),
· GRH6 (Management of priority habitat species-rich grassland. This is an option that needs to be endorsed by Natural England).
· GRH11 is the cattle grazing supplement to GRH6 and some other grassland options.
· SCR1(Creation and management of scrub habitat),
· HEF5,6 & 8 (Vegetation management on archaeological sites, and management of engineered historic waterbodies),
· WBD4, 5 & 9 (Arable conversion to grassland and reduced inputs on intensive grassland by environmentally sensitive watercourses).
Further comments on some of the SFI 2024 options
Since the initial launch of the SFI 2024 management options details in May 2024, there have been quite a few alterations to the details, so the current guide now runs to 435 pages rather than 366.
Some options likely to appeal to farmers are options that effectively provide payment for things that may already be practised, such as variable rate fertiliser application (PRF1) and no-till farming (SOH1), which have already been backed by capital grants through the Farming Equipment & Technology Fund (FETF).
There is also an increased suite of options that allow land to be fallowed, including basic and enhanced overwinter stubbles (AHW6 & AHW7); overwinter, spring or summer cover crops (CSAM2, SOH2 & SOH3) and legume fallow (CNUM3).
Some options have had what some may describe as ‘loopholes’ closed. The aim being to provide more certainty that the aims of the scheme are achieved and that ‘the spirit’ of the scheme is better protected.
CNUM3 – Legume fallow, now needs to provide overwinter cover as well as spring and summer flowers. Therefore, spring sowing followed by an autumn sown cash crop is not possible.
CAHL2 – winter bird food on arable or horticultural land, now needs to provide flowers in spring and summer as well as providing bird food until February. Early spring sowing is therefore necessary.
PRF1 (variable rate fertiliser), this must be for the application of major nutrients, defined as nitrogen, phosphate, potash or magnesium. So, use to only supply more minor nutrients or lime is not allowed.
There are now more habitat management options (many brought across from Countryside Stewardship), and a good number of options for grassland, primarily aimed at providing incentives to reduce inputs in long term and upland-type grassland. These are considered in more detail in an article by Ellie Roberts we will published here soon.
With option payments ranging from a few pounds a hectare to over £1,000 a hectare, and the ability to ‘stack’ some options together on the same area of land, the scheme is well worth looking at.
For any farm business though, choices should be made that complement the aims of the business rather than focusing too much on only choosing higher paid options. Payments have been set to reflect a combination of income forgone and the environmental value generated.
Which options are best for an individual business will therefore depend on factors such as the value that can be reliably achieved from farming it to maximise food production, versus combining food production with varying amounts of environmental stewardship – or improving profitability by selective use of non-crop options. Some examples of this are explored in an article by Will Vaughan-France, which we will publish in the near future.
Through the Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF), NIAB are still able to offer free advice to qualifying businesses* to help them make the best choices for their individual circumstances. Either for SFI applications or wider business needs.
For FFRF supported advice, please contact Greg Crawford at gregory.crawford@niab.com or 07453 965836; or click on ‘register for support’ at www.futurefarmingresilience.com
*Businesses that receive direct payments (BPS) or are in a Higher Level Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
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