NFU calls for a halt on BPS reductions until SFI delays resolved
7th September 2023
With the launch of the SFI scheme delayed until mid-September and farmers facing a bleak end to 2023, the NFU is calling on the government to “do the right thing” and halt all further reductions to BPS payments until environmental schemes are fully up and running.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, but critical delays in the roll-out of the new scheme mean most farmers are unable to access it.
The false start for SFI 2023 comes as another key scheme also designed to replace EU payments, called Countryside Stewardship, has also run into problems.
Crucially, this coincides with major reductions in payments under the old scheme, leaving farmers facing a double whammy in the run-up to Christmas.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “We now know that farmers will not be paid this year, despite assurances that they would be.
“With farm input costs through the roof and interest rates soaring, this leaves farmers in a perilous place. The old scheme goes, the new one’s not ready, and farm businesses are caught in the middle. That’s not fair and we are calling on ministers to recognise that and make it right.”
She called on the government to “bridge the gap” and halt any further reduction in existing farm payments – due to fall by another £720 million this year alone – until delivery problems with SFI are resolved.
“It’s Back British Farming Day next week; a celebration of farming and growing, of great food, of our countryside and of people who make a huge contribution to the UK economy. It would be great if government could have some good news on this for farmers then,” Ms Batters said.
She also pointed out that issues with the rollout of SFI do not only affect farmers, as the government has legislated for environmental targets through this new scheme – called “public money for public goods”. However, with the scheme delayed, a lot of on-farm environmental work it is designed to pay for cannot begin.
Ministers had committed that SFI 2023 would be open in August, with payments coming in December. However, with the start date pushed back to 18th September, farmers will have to wait until next year for the payments to arrive.
Ms Batters pointed out that a handful of farmers were able to register “an expression of interest” on 30 August and await “an invitation to apply”, meaning the scheme was “technically” open, but the reality is very different.
By comparison, the old EU farm payments scheme, known as BPS, had 83,000 claimants. Concerningly, a lack of budget transparency in Defra makes it almost impossible to know where the money initially earmarked for SFI in 23/24 has gone.
With many uncertainties still surrounding the scheme, NFU vice president David Exwood said the current situation needs to be resolved quickly.
“Paying farmers this year was one of the government’s own key tests for delivery of the scheme.
“Government needs to pause BPS reductions until it can fairly deliver their replacements, otherwise it is farming businesses and farming families which are left bearing the cost.”
