Further to our article of 11th April (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/flood-relief-2/), Defra has opened up the Farming Recovery Fund to more farmers. It has been ‘significantly’ expanded to include a wider geographical area of farmers and also now includes those who have experienced damage due to extreme rainfall. As previously, the RPA will identify farmers who are […]
Defra has announced some temporary adjustments to agri-environmental agreements due to the wet weather. This means that if the bad weather has caused disruptions to farming activities so that agreement requirements cannot be met, Defra is allowing more time to establish some options. Or it may be possible to defer some activities until later in […]
Defra has announced a £4 million support fund for small abattoirs. Through the Smaller Abattoir Fund (SAF), capital grants of between £2,000 and £60,000 will be available at 40% of eligible costs. There will be a set list of items (this doesn’t appear to be available just yet) that will be funded, but in recognition […]
Defra has announced that the SFI applications portal will close between 27th December 2023 and 1st January 2024. This is to allow for annual updates to be undertaken. For any unsubmitted SFI applications, it also means the information completed so far will be lost and a new application will need to be restarted when the […]
The RPA has emailed all BPS claimants informing them that it will be sending out Delinked Payment Information Statements soon. The Statements will be sent out in batches from early November; if claimaints have not received one by early December, they should contact the RPA. The information in the Statement should be checked and any […]
A few items relating to the SFI to update readers on; Expression of Interest (EoI) The requirement to submit an EoI prior to a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) application is no longer required. Those who wish to apply for SFI can do so via their Rural Payments account. However, those farming on Commons should continue […]
Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements coming to an end in 2024 may be offered a 4-year extension. The RPA has said that Natural England (NE) will assess expiring agreements to see if they meet the necessary criteria (i.e no breaches, options remain appropriate for the priority target features on the holding etc.) and, where appropriate, […]
Defra has announced it will be opening Round 2 of the Slurry Infrastructure Grants in November. It has also already published the full guidance to help farmers prepare in advance, this can be found at https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2023/10/12/slurry-infrastructure-grant-guidance-now-available-for-round-2/ . In summary, the grant provides funding of between £25,000 and £250,000 to improve on-farm slurry storage to go […]
Contrary to initial indications, farmers will not be registering their interest in SFI via Rural Payments. Instead the RPA will be contacting all eligible farmers and land managers directly, from 30th August, with a link to a short online form that can be completed to express an interest in applying for the scheme. This will […]
Defra has announced some changes to the SFI 2023 option rules and has also published some voluntary guidance on how to carry out the actions. The key changes include; NUM3 (legume fallow) is now rotational AHL1 (pollen and nectar flower mix) is now rotational SAM3 (herbal leys) can now be done on the same land […]