Find out what’s available in SFI
An overview of what you can get paid to do under SFI, the actions you can do under an agreement for the SFI 2023 offer, applying for an agreement, eligible land, how agreements and payments work, and SFI actions we’ll introduce from 2024.
Applies to England
What you can get paid to do under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)
SFI pays farmers to adopt and maintain sustainable farming practices that can protect and improve the environment.
You can apply for a 3-year SFI agreement to do environmental land management actions to help you manage your land in a more sustainable way.
You can also get paid for:
- a vet to visit your farm annually to review the health and welfare of your livestock and give you advice about improvements you could make, which will help you increase farm productivity and resilience
- environmental land management actions under Countryside Stewardship (CS) which pays for more targeted actions relating to specific locations, features and habitats – CS is being improved, instead of developing a new Local Nature Recovery scheme
- environmental land management actions under Landscape Recovery which pays for bespoke, longer-term, larger scale projects to enhance the natural environment
Read the Environmental Land Management (ELM) update we published in January 2023, to find out about the land-based environmental land management actions we’ll pay for under SFI and CS by the end of 2024.
SFI does not currently include any payments for capital items to help you complete the actions. However, you can access one-off payments to buy equipment or other capital items from existing offers, such as Countryside Stewardship capital grants and the Farming Investment Fund.
Find out more about what other funding is available for farmers, land managers and foresters in the guidance about funding for farmers and land managers.
SFI is run by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) on behalf of Defra.
SFI agreements for environmental land management actions
This SFI scheme information replaces the information about the SFI 2023 offer that was in the ELM update we published in January 2023. We’ve made improvements to the SFI 2023 offer since we published that information.
How we’ve improved SFI for 2023
We’ve learned from the SFI pilot and early rollout of SFI that farmers want as much flexibility as possible, so they can choose:
- what combination of standalone ‘pick and mix’ actions they want to do
- which area of land to do each action on
This has helped us to improve the SFI 2023 offer to give farmers this flexibility. Farmers will also be able to do more SFI actions and other environmental land management options, such as Countryside Stewardship (CS), on either the same area of land or a different area in the same land parcel.
We’ve also:
- brought forward many actions into the SFI23 offer which were previously scheduled for 2024
- decided to apply the new SFI management payment to all land-based SFI actions, including the action for moorland (MOR1)
- updated the payment rate for the SFI action for low input grassland in the Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA), so the payment rates are the same in the upland and lowland areas
Summary of the SFI actions you can apply for in the SFI 2023 offer
The tables below summarise the standalone ‘pick and mix’ SFI actions which will be available in the SFI 2023 offer.
We’re introducing new actions for soils and moorland which replace the SFI standards for soils and moorland we launched in June 2022 (the ‘SFI 2022 standards’).
Three actions from the SFI 2022 soils standards will not be available in the SFI 2023 offer (add organic matter, single species winter cover and minimise bare ground). This is because they only work when they’re grouped together with other actions, and done on a required percentage area of land, as was the case in the SFI soils standards – but they do not work as standalone ‘pick and mix’ actions. This page explains further down what the SFI 2023 offer means for existing SFI 2022 standards agreements.
Read the details of the SFI actions for more information about each action.
Actions for soils
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| SAM1 | Assess soil, test soil organic matter and produce a soil management plan | £5.80 per hectare and an additional payment of £95 per agreement |
| SAM2 | Multi-species winter cover crops | £129 per hectare |
| SAM3 | Herbal leys | £382 per hectare |
Actions for moorland
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| MOR1 | Assess moorland and produce a written record | £10.30 per hectare and an additional payment of £265 per agreement |
Actions for hedgerows
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| HRW1 | Assess and record hedgerow condition | £3 per 100 metres – one side |
| HRW2 | Manage hedgerows | £10 per 100 metres – one side |
| HRW3 | Maintain or establish hedgerow trees | £10 per 100 metres – both sides |
Actions for integrated pest management
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| IPM1 | Assess integrated pest management and produce a plan (this action applies to an SFI agreement, rather than a specific area of land (an ‘agreement level SFI action’)) | £989 per year |
| IPM2 | Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips | £673 per hectare |
| IPM3 | Companion crop on arable and horticultural land | £55 per hectare |
| IPM4 | No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops | £45 per hectare |
Actions for nutrient management
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| NUM1 | Assess nutrient management and produce a review report (agreement level SFI action) | £589 per year |
| NUM2 | Legumes on improved grassland | £102 per hectare |
| NUM3 | Legume fallow | £593 per hectare |
Actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| AHL1 | Pollen and nectar flower mix | £614 per hectare |
| AHL2 | Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land | £732 per hectare |
| AHL3 | Grassy field corners and blocks | £590 per hectare |
Actions for farmland wildlife on improved grassland
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| IGL1 | Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management | £333 per hectare |
| IGL2 | Winter bird food on improved grassland | £474 per hectare |
Actions for buffer strips
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| AHL4 | 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural land | £451 per hectare |
| IGL3 | 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on improved grassland | £235 per hectare |
Actions for low input grassland
| Code | SFI action | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| LIG1 | Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (outside SDAs) | £151 per hectare |
| LIG2 | Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (SDAs) | £151 per hectare |
Additional payments
| Payment type | Annual payment |
|---|---|
| Additional common land payment (*if a group of 2 or more people apply for an SFI agreement on common land) | £7 per hectare* |
| SFI management payment - for the first year of your agreement, the SFI management payment will be £40 per hectare per year, for up to the first 50 hectares entered into your SFI agreement. This means that the maximum SFI management payment will be £2,000 for each farm business (SBI) for the first agreement year. For the second and third years of your agreement, the SFI management payment will be £20 per hectare. | £40 per hectare* |
Applying for an SFI agreement
You can apply for an SFI agreement if you’re a farmer who’s eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Read the guidance on applying for an SFI agreement to find out what this means and for more information on:
- what to do before you apply
- when to apply
- how to apply
Eligible land for an SFI agreement
You can enter land into an SFI agreement if it’s in England and:
- you expect to have management control of the land for the duration of the 3-year SFI agreement, including land you occupy under a tenancy on a ‘rolling’ year-by-year basis
- it’s eligible for the SFI actions you choose
Find out more about what land is eligible in the information on eligible land for an SFI agreement.
About SFI agreements and payments
An SFI agreement lasts for 3 years from its start date. It can be ‘upgraded’ annually to add more actions and eligible land.
Your SFI agreement’s total annual payment is based on:
- the area of land or length of hedgerows you enter into the SFI actions
- the SFI management payment will be £40 per hectare per year, for up to the first 50 hectares entered into your SFI agreement in the first year of your SFI agreement. This means that the maximum SFI management payment will be £2,000 per year for each farm business (SBI) for the first agreement year. For the second and third years of your agreement, the SFI management payment will be £20 per hectare
- the additional payment for common land of £7 per hectare if a group of 2 or more people apply for an SFI agreement on common land
The total annual payment is paid in quarterly instalments. The first instalment will usually be made in the fourth month after your agreement starts.
Read the information about SFI agreements and payments to find out more, including how the SFI management payment works.
Future SFI actions to be introduced from 2024
We’re rolling out SFI environmental land management actions incrementally. As the scheme expands each year, more SFI actions will be introduced, so the full set is available by the end of 2024. You’ll be able to add more actions and eligible land to your SFI agreement each year.
We’ll publish more details later in 2023 about the future SFI actions to be introduced by the end of 2024.
What the SFI 2023 offer means for existing SFI 2022 standards agreements
We want to make sure farmers with agreements for the SFI 2022 standards can fully benefit from the improvements we’ve made to the SFI 2023 offer.
The SFI 2022 standards do not give the same flexibility as the SFI 2023 offer, and they limit the number of new SFI actions that can be done on the same area of land.
If you applied for the SFI 2022 standards before we temporarily closed applications on 21 June 2023, we’ll offer you an agreement if your application is eligible. You can either accept or reject it.
We previously said that farmers who entered SFI 2022 standards agreements would not lose out as we developed the scheme further. We’ll write to farmers with existing agreements for the SFI 2022 standards to explain how we’ll meet this commitment and make sure they can fully benefit from the improvements we’ve made to the SFI 2023 offer.
Farmers with existing agreements for the SFI 2022 standards should read the SFI scheme information for existing SFI 2022 standards agreement holders. That contains the requirements you must follow if you’ve entered into an SFI 2022 standards agreement.
SFI annual health and welfare review of livestock
Eligible livestock keepers can get paid for a vet, or team chosen by a vet, to visit their farm and carry out an annual health and welfare review of eligible livestock. You do not need to have an SFI agreement for environmental land management actions to apply for an annual health and welfare review payment.
Read more about the SFI annual health and welfare review of livestock.
Last updated 22 April 2024 + show all updates
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Update to the SFI management payment
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Update to SFI management payment. Update to additional payment for common land.
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First published.