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😁 Top 4 Easy-Wins in the Sustainable Farming Incentive
💷 Even a 40ha farm could make £2,500+ from these easy-wins.
💡 Find out the 4 free tools which make them a no-brainer. Understandably, SFI mostly pays for 🚜 on-the-ground actions - but these are often expensive and time-consuming to implement. Luckily DEFRA also offer 4 'planning' actions 📋 which provide some of the easiest wins in terms of 💰 received vs ⏱ spent - especially if you use the tools below.
Let’s start with The Land App 🗺️. This is the best place to plan which SFI actions you can do on each field. It helps you identify which parcels are eligible for individual actions and see what you would receive from different combinations. Tim Hopkin is working on integrations with the RPA to then be able to seamlessly submit your application. thelandapp.com
Once you've got your SFI agreement, there are a few tricks to speed up the paperwork you'll need to comply:
🪱 SAM1: Soil Management Plans (£6/ha + £97)
What's required: For each field on the farm, you need to assess a series of different risks to your soils (run-off, erosion etc) and come up with proposals of how each field will be managed to mitigate those risks.Tool to Use: Soil Benchmark uses background data from the British Geological Survey, Environment Agency and Ordnance Survey to pre-populate comprehensive Soil Management Plans. Like Land App, it only requires your SBI number to get started and offers free functionality with paid-for packages for full reporting. soilbenchmark.com
🌾 NUM1: Nutrient Management Plan (£652)
What's required: For every crop on the farm you need to create a plan that proves that fertilisers are only being applied to meet crop requirements. NMPs are a legal requirement anyway, but this action pays for it to be prepared by a BASIS qualified advisor.Tool to Use: Navigate Eco Solutions Ltd simplifies the whole process, integrating with RB209 and building on Alli Arden's years of experience. Soil Benchmark are working with Navigate to link the two platforms, allowing you to create Soil and Nutrient Management Plans without re-entering data. navigateecosolutions.com
🐛 IPM1: Integrated Pest Management Plan (£1,129)
What's required: Again this involves a BASIS qualified advisor coming to the farm and creating a plan of how to manage pests, weeds and diseases using a range of practices, not just crop protection products.Tool to Use: The Voluntary Initiative&NFU (National Farmers' Union) have a template for creating IPM plans. It involves a time-consuming questionnaire but has become the industry standard. nfuonline.com/ipm
🌳 HRW1: Hedgerow Condition Assessment (£5/100m - for each side)
What's required: You need to create a written 'hedgerow condition assessment record'.Tool to Use: The Healthy Hedgerows app from the People's Trust for Endangered Species. You just need to walk along your hedges with a smartphone and it will help you produce the records required. hedgerowsurvey.ptes.org
