Survey reveals the impact of sudden closure of SFI project

By March more than 50,000 farm businesses had joined SFI schemes, reportedly covering more than half of all farmed land in the country. The Government said participation levels had led to the full allocation of the program's budget.

The Government has said it plans to provide more details about a reformed SFI offer later this year, with information to follow the official government Spending Review, the final outcome of which is expected to be published in late spring.

The CLA’s poll found 54 per cent were in an SFI agreement, and that 40 per cent who were not had aimed to apply for options in the expanded offer.

Just 4.5 per cent of those who answered the survey believed they had achieved all they wanted from the SFI scheme.

The study found many farmers had already invested time and money into preparing applications, including seeking professional advice.

Mr Maughan said his family farm had been among the many working towards applying for an SFI grant when the scheme closed.

He said: “We could have gone in sooner, but we had been waiting to make sure we got the options right for our business.

“It has knocked confidence. There has been a lot of change in the last few months politically and closure of the SFI with no notice dented people’s confidence in investing in businesses.

"Hopefully there will be new and suitable schemes going forward, but we can’t have a repeat of the situation where a scheme is closed at such short notice with people left with applications in process and wanting to take up more options as well. Some people, through no fault of their own, have not been able to access SFI because they’ve been tied into other schemes and some people have put a lot of thought into it to make sure they get the options right for their business, which is why they took their time to apply and have been caught out by the closure of the scheme with no notice.”

He said the replacement scheme needed to be “suitable and accessible for all farmers”, adding “we can’t have a repetition of a scheme that closes”.

Mr Maughan said: “People need to be sure about what it is, the application process and how long it will be open for and the funding for it. We need consistency and we need clarity. It’s about business confidence if we are going to keep producing food and delivering for the environment as we do as farmers we need confidence to keep investing in our businesses. It’s never more important than now to be getting clarity around budget and what future schemes will look like.”

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, said without the management contracts which were promised, many farmers were facing a cash crisis.

She said work to restore soil, protect nature and cut emissions cost money, and so in the absence of funding there was a danger that important projects would be shelved. She added: “No farmer can plan for an environmentally sustainable farming future when rules change overnight.”