Defra's New Standards For The 2023 SFI Scheme

Published on 26^th January, Defra announced the roll out of six new standards under the Sustainable Farming Incentive with the three-year agreements aimed at promoting biodiversity, air quality, climate change adaptation and water quality.

The new standards include:

• Nutrient Management Standard
• Integrated Pest Management Standard
• Hedgerow Standard
• Arable & Horticultural Land Standard
• Improved Grassland Standard
• Low Input Grassland Standard

Several of the new Hedgerow and Arable & Horticultural Land Standards align with existing Countryside Stewardship options, such as BE3 hedgerow management, AB9 winter bird food blocks and AB1 pollen and nectar mixes, with SFI payment rates mirroring these.

However, the introduction of the new Integrated Pest Management and Nutrient Management Standards offer funding for written assessments under each, and can be stacked with either CSS parcel options, or with other SFI standards to provide supplementary funding as Basic Payment Scheme rates continue to reduce.

These new standards follow the introduction of the SFI Management Payment of £20 per hectare up to 50 hectares and pave the way for future stackable options, as additional standards are expected to be introduced between 2023 and 2025, with greater focus likely to be placed on farm biodiversity, woodland and water protection.

To read our full summary document of the SFI updates please click here.