The government will announce reforms to the Sustainable Farming Incentive and a multimillion-pound package of measures at the Oxford Farming Conference.
It said the measures will back farmers and usher in a new era of partnership to boost profitability.
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds will outline long-awaited reforms to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, designed to simplify the scheme and make it more predictable.
As part of the reforms, there will be two application windows in 2026, with the first from June prioritising smaller farms and those without an existing agreement, followed by a second round from September for wider applications.
The government said it would continue working with the sector to refine these proposals, and full scheme details will be published before the first application window opens.
“Farmers are at the heart of our national life – for what you produce, the communities you sustain, and the landscapes and heritage you protect,” Reynolds is expected to say. “British farming is also a key growth sector we’re backing for the long term. Farmers who want to build, to export and to invest in new technology.
“But too often, they’ve been held back by bureaucracy. We’re changing that to a system that backs our farmers.”
The reforms to the SFI have been welcomed by the Soil Association “after an uncertain wait for farmers over the last year”.
However the organic body’s policy director Brendan Costelloe stressed concerns that there is a “long wait for many farmers when we need all farms, big and small, to be adopting more nature friendly practicies right now”.
”We also desperately need the government to provide reassurance that they will back organic in both SFI windows,” he added. ”The government needs more of this type of farming if it is going to meet its climate and nature goals.”
The NFU also said the reforms were “positive” but its deputy president David Exwood warned that “there remains a huge lack of detail that farmers and growers urgently need and this uncertainty continues to undermine farmers’ confidence, ability to invest and do the best for their busines”.
Reynolds will also announce a new three-year, £30m Farmer Collaboration Fund, which will reportedly empower farmers with new opportunities to grow their businesses, share information, network and drive change from “the ground up”.
There will also be an extension to the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme for three years, along with £30m funding for 2027 alone.
Read more
-
Lack of clarity on SFI scheme leaving farmers ‘stranded’
-
Farmers need a ‘new deal for profitable farming’: Batters
“We will work with you – through our new Farming & Food Partnership Board, through peer-to-peer networks, through community-led change, and through engagement on the detailed changes to SFI,” she will say to the conference. “You will have the certainty you need to plan – clear budgets, clear timelines, a clear future roadmap, and growth built on strong foundations.”
The latest measures come after the publication of Minette Batters’ Farm Profitability Review before Christmas, which the government said would help inform its 25-year Farming Roadmap alongside them.
Among her findings, the baroness said there had been “lack of clarity on finances and policy” which is “leaving many farmers I’ve spoken to questioning the viability of their farming business”. Batters similarly criticised the uncertainty surrounding the closure of applications to the SFI last year.
The environment secretary will also set out plans exploring a transformation of England’s uplands and supporting the communities that depend on them.
No comments yet