The second Sustainable Farming Incentive window has closed less than six hours after opening, Defra has confirmed.
The government scheme offering farming businesses £233m to produce food more sustainably and become more resilient opened its second window this morning.
The rapid uptake of the scheme came “as no surprise” to NFU vice president Robyn Munt, who said it showed “the scale of demand there is from farmers”.
“The current cashflow pressures facing farmers and growers only exacerbates that demand as they look for certainty and clarity for the year ahead,” Munt added. ”But those that missed out have been left with even greater uncertainty as the sector doesn’t have a commitment from government for SFI27 and access to Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
“We know the uncertainty and financial pressure this creates for those businesses.”
Although £183m was initially earmarked, £53m in extra funding was added thanks to a £50m “boost” announced by PM Andy Burnham in August and £3m left over from the first window, which received 7,000 applications and resulted in 3,100 agreements signed.
Munt said that additional funding had been “welcome” but added the NFU had “warned Defra for months that the available budget would not meet demand”.
“It was clear that it wasn’t enough to plug the gap in the budget needed and it fails many who have been committed to such schemes for many years,” she added.
Unlike the first window, all farmers and land managers with over three hectares of land could apply for the second window and it stayed open until all of its funding was allocated.
The government also said around 21,000 farms whose current environment land management schemes are set to expire by the end of February will be able to apply for their next agreement early. This includes any small farms who held off applying in the first window so they could use the early-application option.
“Yet again, Defra has created a position where there are the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in the sector based purely on the speed of pressing a button,” added Munt. ”This comes at the same time as the department says it wants a reset with the farming industry.
“Instead, it has further damaged business confidence levels that are already incredibly low.”
Farming minister Stephen Morgan said: “We built this year’s Sustainable Farming Incentive to be simpler and fairer, so farmers don’t carry the risk of a changing climate alone, and they have responded in force,”
He emphasised that this was a scheme “that works for farmers backs food production, and delivers practical, sustainable land management, supporting the aims of our Farming Roadmap, our long-term plan for English farming”.
Munt said this response suggested there could be further announcements to come which she called for “urgently”.
”For food producing businesses already questioning whether they can survive the year ahead, this clarity is critical,” she concluded.
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