The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) forms the first part of the Government' s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. It aims to help farmers manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, whilst replacing some of the revenue lost from BPS payments.

In 2022, the first standard aiming to improve soil health was launched for farmers in England, offering payments of up to £40/ha.

There are two levels available: introductory and intermediate.

To find out more about the requirements and payments for each of these levels speak to an Agrii Environmental Advisor. 

Benefits of the SFI

The SFI provides the opportunity for farmers to earn money for practices implemented to improve soil health. Examples include:

• Soil testing – pH,P,K,Mg & SOM
• Developing a soil management plan based on physical soil assessments
• Addition of organic matter
• Including cover crops into the rotation

Alongside that, there is also the opportunity for farmer to make up for some of the loss from BPS payments. However, this should be viewed as a financial opportunity to understand your soils, to target your cultivations, nutrition, and crop rotation.

How can the Soil Resilience Strategy help?

Agrii's Soil Resilience Strategy (SRS) can offer a service to customers, to help them comply and fully understand their soils. Through technological developments including our new application, we can create soil management plans, whilst merging both lab and in field analysis into one report.

This will allow the farmer to keep records of their soil and act on the results.

Senior Agronomist and Soil Specialist Andrew Richards discusses the SFI filmed live from AgriiFocus Technology Centre, 2022