Agricultural Transition Plan Update
Defra have today published an update on the Agricultural Transition Plan, outlining changes that will take affect during the course of 2024.
The headlines are:
- SFI and CSS payment rates will increase by an average of 10% for both new and existing agreements.
- Up to 50 new Actions will be made available in the summer across all environmental land management schemes.
- There will be a “streamlined single application service” for SFI and CSS Mid Tier.
- Premium payments will be introduced for delivering the biggest environmental impact in specified priority areas.
- In early 2024, there will be a further round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, for smaller capital grants.
- Later in the year there will be further rounds of the Farming Transformation Fund grant scheme, for larger capital grants.
Our thoughts….
The increase in payment rates is of course welcome news, albeit arguably not more than keeping up with inflation. Thankfully the new rates will be automatically applied to existing Agreements, so there is no need to delay submitting an application.
There is already a degree of crossover between the SFI 2023 Actions and the CSS Options. Although the two Schemes will remain separate, there is an attempt to simplify matters, which is good news. Essentially, our understanding is that there will now be more opportunity to access payments through the more flexible SFI Scheme.
Included in the new Actions will be payments for managing existing habitats, as opposed to the current situation whereby payments are largely targeted at creating habitat. There will also be Actions targeted at precision farming and no-till practices, some examples of which are below:
Some examples of the new Actions available in the combined SFI/CSS offer:
| Action | Payment |
| No-till farming | £73 per hectare |
| Variable rate application of nutrients | £27 per hectare |
| Simple ditch management | £4 per 100m |
| Multi-species spring, summer or autumn cover | £163 per hectare |
| Remote sensor herbicide spraying | £43 per hectare |
And some examples of the premium payment rates:
| Land use | Action | Payment rate with premium |
| Arable | Nesting plots for lapwing | £765 per ha |
| Grassland | Manage species rich flood plains | £1,070 per ha |
| Scrub | Create scrub and open habitat mosaic | £588 per hectare |
