House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement
Sustainable Farming Incentive
12 March 2025 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Proposed by Daniel Zeichner Lab Cambridge
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
At a glance
Key points
- Government has stopped accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive as of 2025-03-12
- Existing SFI24 agreements and eligible applications submitted before the decision will be honoured
- Reformed and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive expected to be introduced in summer 2025
Issue summary
The government has stopped accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI24) and plans to introduce a reformed and improved SFI offer in summer 2025.
Action requested
The government is committed to ensuring all existing SFI24 agreements will be paid, and outstanding eligible applications submitted before the decision will also be taken forward. The new SFI will support farmers' resilience and profitability while maintaining environmental standards.
Key facts
- Government inherited a farming scheme with millions of pounds underspent.
- Current budget for sustainable food production is £5 billion over two years.
- More than 50,000 farm businesses are now in Environmental Land Management schemes.
- SFI has more than 37,000 live agreements in place.
- New and improved SFI offer to be introduced by summer 2025.