The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said that farmers are facing a “bleak end to 2023” due to delays in the roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced at the end of August that farmers could start registering their interest for the scheme from August 30, and that applications would begin to be accepted from Monday, September 18.
However, the NFU said the SFI should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, but “critical delays” in the roll out of the scheme mean most farmers are unable to access it.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “We now know that farmers will not be paid this year, despite assurances that they would be.
“With farm input costs through the roof and interest rates soaring, this leaves farmers in a perilous place.
“The old scheme goes, the new one’s not ready, and farm businesses are caught in the middle. That’s not fair and we are calling on ministers to recognise that and make it right.”
The NFU said the delays in SFI have coincided with “major reductions” to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) – the scheme that SFI is set to replace – and that this leaves farmers facing “a double whammy in the run-up to Christmas”.
“It’s Back British Farming Day next week; a celebration of farming and growing, of great food, of our countryside and of people who make a huge contribution to the UK economy,” Batters said.
“It would be great if government could have some good news on this for farmers then.”
Farming Minister Mark Spencer said the government understands the challenges that farmers face and “always listen to their concerns”.
“The improvements that we’ve made to our farming schemes over the last 12 months – with increased payment rates and greater flexibility – are evidence of that.
“The Sustainable Farming Incentive has already received thousands of expressions of interest from farmers over the last week ahead of applications starting from September 18, and we are actively considering how we respond to the issues raised by the NFU.”
‘Bridge the gap’ in payments
Batters said the union is asking for the UK government to “bridge the gap” it has created by taking away one set of payments, but not delivering access to their replacements on time.
The union said it is calling on ministers to halt any further reduction in existing farm payments – which it said are due to fall by another £720 million this year – until the problems with SFI are resolved.
The NFU said that, although farmers could register an expression of interest in SFI on August 30 and then await an invitation to apply – meaning the scheme was technically open – the reality is “very different”.
“Consequently, payments farmers were relying on will not come this year and will come to only a handful of farmers in the early part of 2024,” the union said.
“By comparison, the old EU farm payments scheme, known as BPS, had 83,000 claimants.”
NFU vice president David Exwood said: “Paying farmers this year was one of the government’s own key tests for delivery of the scheme.
“With the scale of the roll out of SFI 23 still unclear and with many farmers still not sure what they need to do to apply, the current situation needs to be resolved quickly.”
“Government needs to pause BPS reductions until it can fairly deliver their replacements, otherwise it is farming businesses and farming families which are left bearing the cost.”
