The Sustainable Farming Incentive: choose from 23 actions that reward and support sustainable farming on your land.
Find out how SFI can work for you.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) rewards farmers for farming practices that help produce food sustainably and protect the environment.
You can apply for an SFI agreement if you were eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2022 or 2023.
Why you should apply for SFI
What SFI can offer you
What farmers say about SFI
You can now apply for an SFI agreement.
You will receive your first payment 4 months after your SFI agreement starts. After that you’ll be paid every 3 months, so you have regular, reliable income.
Why you should apply for an SFI agreement
1. Business resilience
By applying sustainable food production practices on your farm, you could improve soil health, biodiversity or help mitigate the impact of extreme weather. All of which help look after your farm in the short and long term.
2. Flexibility
You can enter as much land as you want and choose how many actions you do. Once you’re in SFI, you can add more land and actions to your agreement each year.
3. Good for your cashflow
You will receive your first payment 4 months after your SFI agreement starts. After that you’ll be paid every 3 months so you have regular, reliable income.
4. Works with Countryside Stewardship (CS)
You can have a Countryside Stewardship (CS) or Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreement and an SFI agreement at the same time. This means you can combine SFI actions with other scheme options.
5. Straightforward application process
It’s straightforward to apply and manage your agreement. You’ll apply online through the Rural Payments service and your agreement will start the month after you accept it.
Join thousands of other farmers and apply for an SFI agreement today.
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What SFI can offer you
There are 23 actions to choose from across 8 areas. Keep reading for examples within each area, and links to more detail.
Soil health
Sow herbal ley pastures to support your soil structure and receive £382 per hectare each year.
Moorlands
Assess and produce a written record of your moorland and receive £10.30 per hectare plus £265 per SFI agreement each year.
Hedgerows
Receive £10 per 100-metres for hedgerow management.
Integrated pest management
Get £673 per hectare for flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips.
Nutrient management
Get £593 per hectare for legume fallows or £102 per hectare for legumes on improved grassland.
Farmland wildlife
Plant a pollen and nectar flower-mix and receive £614 per hectare, attracting pollinators that support natural crop pest predators.
Read actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land and improved grassland
Buffer strips
Create a 4-metre to 12-metre grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural land and receive up to £451 per hectare each year.
Low input grassland
Receive £151 per hectare per year to manage grasslands with very low nutrient inputs.
Headline figures are great, but you need the detail.
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What farmers say about SFI
Hear from farmers who say SFI will help build a business that’s resilient for the long term.
Ian May, beef and sheep farmer
“I’m looking to build a business that’s resilient for the long term. SFI helps you do that.”
Paul Brown, wheat farmer
“Farmers are here to produce food, SFI will help us do that…and it will help support the environment at the same time. It’s a win-win.”
There are other schemes available, such as Countryside Stewardship, that might be right for you.
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