How an SFI standards agreement interacts with other funding schemes

This information explains the interaction between land entered into a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards agreement and other schemes, as well as other funding sources.

Existing schemes will continue to run alongside SFI, such as:

• Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), until it is delinked in 2024
• Countryside Stewardship (CS)
• Environmental Stewardship

By the end of 2024, new schemes will also be launched, including:

• Local Nature Recovery
• Landscape Recovery

Including land in an SFI standards agreement and other schemes at the same time

It’s possible to include the same land in an SFI standards agreement and another scheme if:

• you and your land are eligible for each scheme
• the activities or outcomes you’re being paid for under each scheme are compatible
• you are not being paid for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time (known as double funding)

Basic Payment Scheme

You can include the same land parcel in a BPS application and your SFI standards agreement, as long as it’s eligible for each scheme.

If you apply for the Lump Sum Exit Scheme in 2022, you should not apply for SFI. If you decide to withdraw your Lump Sum Exit Scheme application, you can then apply for SFI.

Countryside Stewardship

The interaction between an SFI standards agreement and CS is different depending on whether there’s a revenue option or capital items funding.

CS revenue options

If land used for a CS revenue option has an eligible land cover and is an eligible land type for the standard you choose, you can enter it into an SFI standards agreement if:

• the CS actions, including their timing, are compatible with the actions in the standard you choose
• you won’t be paid twice for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time (known as double funding)

If this is not the case, the ineligible CS revenue option land, including any land currently used for an ineligible rotational CS revenue option, cannot:

• be entered into an SFI standards agreement
• be used to complete any of the actions in the SFI standards

For example, you cannot enter:

• an area of land used to establish a cover crop under CS into the arable and horticultural soils standard, or use it to meet the actions in that standard
• an area of land used for a CS grass buffer strip on an improved grassland parcel into the improved grassland soils standard, or use it to meet the actions in that standard

The standard you choose affects which CS revenue options are compatible and do not lead to double funding.

CS revenue options and the moorland standard

Land used for all CS revenue options can be entered into the introductory level of the moorland standard, if it has an eligible land cover and is an eligible land type.

This is because the introductory level of the moorland standard does not involve physical land management actions, so there is no incompatibility or double funding.

CS revenue options and the soils standards

You can enter land used for certain CS revenue options into the introductory and intermediate levels in the arable and horticultural soils standard or the improved grassland soils standard in 2022.

These eligible CS revenue options are set out in tables 1 and 2.

Table 1. Eligible CS revenue options for the arable and horticultural soils standard

CS revenue option
ED1: Educational access
BE3: Management of hedgerows
SP10: Administration of group managed agreements supplement
AB5: Nesting plots for lapwing
AB11: Cultivated areas for arable plants
AB14: Harvested low input cereal
AB12: Supplementary winter feeding for farmland birds
SP9: Threatened species supplement
OP3: Supplementary feeding for farmland birds
OT4: Organic land management – horticulture
OR3: Organic conversion - rotational land
OR4: Organic conversion – horticulture
HS3: Reduced-depth, non-inversion cultivation on historic and archaeological features
HS9: Restricted depth crop establishment to protect archaeology under an arable rotation

Table 2. Eligible CS revenue options for the improved grassland soils standard

CS revenue option
SW10: Seasonal livestock removal on intensive grassland in SDAs next to streams, rivers and lakes
BE3: Management of hedgerows
BE6: Veteran tree surgery
BE7: Supplement for restorative pruning of fruit trees
ED1: Educational access
OT1: Organic land management - improved permanent grassland
SP10: Administration of group managed agreements supplement
OR1: Organic conversion - improved permanent grassland
SW9: Seasonal livestock removal on intensive grassland
SP7: Introduction of cattle grazing on Isles of Scilly

If you use an area of a land parcel for a CS revenue option not listed in tables 1 and 2 above, that area cannot be entered into the soils standards.

However, you can enter the rest of the land parcel not covered by an ineligible CS revenue option into either of the soils standards (if it’s eligible land for the chosen standard).

For example, if part of a land parcel is used for a CS grass buffer strip, you can enter the rest of the area into either of the soils standards.

Rotational CS revenue options

A rotational CS revenue option is a multi-annual land management option that can be moved around identified land parcels in your CS agreement.

Each year of your CS agreement, you declare the area currently used for a rotational CS option. You do this either:

• on the CS annual revenue claim, usually submitted by 15 May each year
• by 1 September in the relevant year if you cannot declare its location on the CS annual revenue claim

Any area within a land parcel that’s currently used for an ineligible rotational CS revenue option listed in table 3 cannot be entered into the soils standards.

Table 3. Ineligible rotational CS revenue options for the soils standards

CS revenue option
AB1: Nectar flower mix
AB2: Basic overwinter stubble
AB4: Skylark plots
AB6: Enhanced overwinter stubble
AB7: Wholecrop cereals
AB9: Winter bird food
AB10: Unharvested cereal headland
AB13: Brassica fodder crop
AB15: Two year sown legume fallow
AB16: Autumn sown bumblebird mix
SW5: Enhanced management of maize crops
SW6: Winter cover crops
GS4: Legume and herb-rich swards
OP1: Overwintered stubble
OP2: Wild bird seed mixture
OP4: Multi species ley
OP5: Undersown cereal
GS3: Ryegrass seed-set as winter food for birds (ineligible for the improved grassland soils standard)

You can enter the rest of the land parcel not covered by an ineligible rotational CS revenue option into either of the soils standards (if it’s eligible land for the chosen standard).

Once your SFI standards agreement has started, the rotational CS revenue options listed in table 3 above can be located on land parcels in your SFI standards agreement. This is because the area of rotational CS revenue options has already been removed from your ‘available area’, so there’s no risk of double funding.

Applying for an SFI standards agreement if you have an existing CS agreement

If you have an existing CS agreement, the following areas are automatically removed from the affected land parcels in your SFI application:

• the area of ineligible CS revenue options (those not listed in tables 1 and 2 above)
• the area currently used for ineligible rotational CS revenue options (which are listed in table 3 above)

This means the area is not included in the affected land parcel’s ‘available area’ for you to select in your SFI application. For example, if there is a 10 hectare (ha) land parcel which has 2 ha of AB2 (Basic overwinter stubble), the ‘available area’ in your SFI application will be 8 ha.

Applying for an SFI standards agreement and CS in 2022

You may be applying for a CS Higher Tier or Mid Tier (including the Wildlife Offers) agreement starting from 1 January 2023. This may affect your SFI application if you include the same area of land in both CS and SFI.

If you submit your CS application and receive your CS agreement offer before you apply for SFI, any area of ineligible CS revenue options can be confirmed before you apply for SFI.

In this case, the following areas are automatically removed from the affected land parcels in your SFI application:

• the area of ineligible CS revenue options (those not listed in tables 1 and 2 above)
• the area currently used for ineligible rotational CS revenue options (which are listed in table 3 above)

This means the area isn’t included in the affected land parcel’s ‘available area’ for you to select in your SFI application.

However, if the area of ineligible CS revenue options cannot be confirmed, it won’t be possible to automatically remove it from your SFI application. This will be the case if you apply for SFI before you submit your CS application.

This means the area of ineligible CS revenue options is included in the affected land parcel’s ‘available area’ in your SFI application. You can only enter the total ‘available area’ into the standard you choose. It cannot be reduced in your SFI application to remove the area of ineligible CS revenue options.

If you enter the same area of land into both an SFI soils standard and an ineligible CS revenue option in a CS agreement that starts from 1 January 2023, your SFI payment will be automatically adjusted.

For example, you enter a 10 ha land parcel into one of the soils standards and include that same land parcel in your CS application. You have only included 1 ha of this land parcel in your CS application, but it’s in an ineligible CS revenue option for the SFI soils standard you have chosen. If your CS agreement starts after your SFI standards agreement, you will only be eligible for an SFI payment on 9 ha of that land parcel.

CS capital items funding

If you apply for a CS Capital Grants agreement, the same land parcel can be entered into an SFI standards agreement.

Environmental Stewardship

Land in an existing Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement can be entered into the introductory level of the moorland standard. This is because the introductory level pays you to assess the moorland and produce plans, and HLS funds physical actions. This means you aren’t being paid twice for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time (known as double funding).

Before SFI applications open, we’ll publish more information on GOV.UK about the eligibility of land in HLS agreements for both of the soils standards.

Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot

Land parcels already in a Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot standards agreement cannot be entered into your SFI standards agreement.

Local Nature Recovery

Local Nature Recovery (LNR) is expected to launch by the end of 2024. You’ll be able to apply for LNR options on land entered into an SFI standards agreement, as long as the eligibility and compatibility requirements are met and there’s no double funding.

The LNR options will initially cover the following themes:

• managing feeding, shelter and breeding areas for wildlife on arable farms
• managing, restoring and creating grassland habitats such as species-rich grassland on farms and in the wider countryside
• managing, restoring and creating wetland habitats such as ponds, lakes, reedbeds and fens
• managing, restoring and creating lowland heathland
• managing, restoring and creating coastal habitats such as sand dunes, salt marsh and shingle
• managing and restoring areas of upland and lowland peat and moorland on farms and in the wider countryside
• targeted measures to support the recovery and reintroduction of particular wildlife species, such as creating and managing nesting and feeding habitat, and to tackle non-native invasive species
• managing and creating trees and woodlands, including agroforestry, traditional orchards and tree planting on areas of farms (the England Woodland Creation Offer will be the main scheme for creating woodland until 2025)
• nature-based solutions for water, such as creating and managing in-field vegetation, buffer strips and swales to reduce and filter runoff and contribute to natural flood management
• restoring rivers, flood plains, streams and riparian habitats

More LNR guidance will be published on GOV.UK over the next year.

Landscape Recovery

You can apply for Landscape Recovery on land entered into an SFI standards agreement, as long as the eligibility and compatibility requirements are met and there’s no double funding.

Farming in Protected Landscapes

If you have land in a National Park Authority or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) you can apply for Farming in Protected Landscapes funding and enter that same land into an SFI standards agreement.

This is because the funding available under Farming in Protected Landscapes does not pay for the same land management actions as SFI.

Private sector schemes

In 2022, you can enter the same area of land into an SFI standards agreement and a private sector scheme arrangement, such as carbon trading or payments for natural flood management.

This is only possible if you are not being paid twice for similar environmental land management actions legally required in your SFI standards agreement and the private sector scheme.

You also need to meet the rules and requirements of the private sector scheme, including:

• whether the environmental outcome is additional to what you’re delivering in the SFI standards agreement (‘additionality’)
• verification of the environmental outcomes

The approach to private sector schemes will be reviewed by Defra annually.