How TerraMap can facilitate new SFI actions and pay for itself – Farmers Weekly

“Fifty new actions will go live when the SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS) will combine for the Environmental Land Management offer, which is likely to be called SFI 2024 for the short term, and will represent the largest change to agri-environment schemes in decades,” explains Hannah Joy, environmental services specialist for Hutchinsons.

“The addition of more actions is designed to be more attractive to farmers and land managers to help achieve objectives that would see 65% to 80% of landowners and farmers adopting ‘nature-friendly farming’ on at least 10-15% of their land by 2030.”

None of the new actions will be open to applicants before summer, but the ability to have two SFI schemes running or to add to an existing agreement on its anniversary means farmers are being encouraged to get on with applications.

As a result, most should be considering how they can combine it with existing arrangements to secure additional income.

“The latest update to this, revealed on the 25^th March by Defra, announced caps to certain SFI actions to ensure that the SFI is working alongside food production.

“There has been talk of this coming, and it does still provide plenty of flexibility to engage with the SFI,” points out Hannah.

Those who submit SFI applications on or after 26^th March will only be able to put 25% of their land into six SFI actions which take land out of food production.

These include:

• IPM1 Flower-rich grass margins
• AHL1 Pollen and nectar flower mix
• AHL2 Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land
• AHL3 Grassy field corners and blocks
• IGL1 Improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management
• IGL2 Winter bird food on improved grassland.

Applicants can choose as many of these ‘limited area’ actions as liked, but the total eligible area of them must be no more than 25% of the total agricultural area of the farm.

Individual farm circumstances will dictate what can be put in place and when that should happen, says Ms Joy.

“However for all farms, there are some easy wins, such as assessing nutrient management and producing a plan, for example, or assessing soil, testing for soil organic matter, and producing a soil management plan.

“It’s important to remember new actions can be added into an agreement, and can be reduced by 50%, but can’t be taken away.”

Omnia can facilitate many of these actions, and in fact pays for itself just through the SFI management option, which is worth £40/ha, for up to 50ha, totalling £2,000 for the first year.

SAM1 requires a soil assessment to be undertaken including measuring soil organic matter (SOM) as well as a soil management plan and this is where TerraMap can be used to meet all the requirements of the action, and also set up data for the new precision actions when they become available.

For Harry Middleditch of Hole Farm, Sudbury in Suffolk, applying for SFI actions has been relatively straightforward and hassle free – and he puts this down to having access to all the data required at the touch of a button.

“We have been Omnia users for several years,” he explains.

“We are a data-driven business and like to have the information we need to run our business all in one place.

“We find the system very easy to use; for example, we can take pictures and upload them so they are in one place for when we need them – we don’t have to waste time looking back.”

“Over the last few years using Omnia, we have been able to build up a picture of good and less productive areas of the farm which we have taken out of production and entered into a range of actions such as AHL1, AHL2 and IPM 3 & 4.”

Having recently had the whole farm TerraMapped, this level of data has been taken to a whole new level, says Harry.

“Now we can look at characteristics of the soils from soil texture down to OM levels and overlap this with the date we already have – which helps us to understand why the soils behave the way they do and enables us to make much more accurate decisions about how to manage them.

“This includes where dovetailing appropriate SFI actions would work and applying for them.”

“It’s a no brainer when the data is already to hand; such as for SAM1 where we can easily provide the soil measurements and a management plan.”

“From the 1st January 2024 capital payment rates have increased on average by 48%,” says Ms Joy.

“New capital payment rates apply to new applicants and those with agreements that started on or after the 1st January 2023.

“This includes capital items in CS revenue agreements, SFI pilot agreements, and standalone CS capital grants.

“Capital grants are now a three-year agreement and can be applied for all-year round and no longer need to be tied into a Mid Tier agreement.”

She points out there is no longer a limit on the maximum value of capital items that can be included in each of the four groups:

• Boundaries, trees and orchards
• Improved water quality
• Improved air quality
• Improved natural flood management