A DEFRA u-turn on the abrupt closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in the face of legal action by the NFU has provided a lifeline to an estimated 3,000 farmers across the country.

Daniel Zeichner, minister for food security and rural affairs, confirmed that as a result of what he described as a “technical issue”, applicants who had started and saved an SFI application within two months of 11 March this year but had not submitted it by the time the scheme was closed without warning would be given six weeks to complete their application.

Farmers were stunned when the scheme was closed without notice after DEFRA claimed all the SFI funding had been spent, leaving many with no way of earning cash for carrying out environmental schemes following the end of basic payments.

On 12 May, two months after the initial bombshell, Mr Zeichner accepted that “an error” had been made when the scheme was closed and agreed the change.  Agreements, though, will be limited to a maximum of £9,300 per year for the duration of the agreement, a figure DEFRA claims “reflects the median average agreement value for existing SFI 2024 agreements”.

The announcement came after a group of farmers supported by the NFU wrote to the DEFRA Secretary of State to inform him of their intention to legally challenge his decision to close the scheme to new applicants without notice.

One of their arguments related to the assurance which had been provided by DEFRA that they would be given six weeks’ notice of any intention to close the scheme to new applicants.

In his statement, Mr Zeichner said he had not been aware that people who had started an application and then saved it without submitting had been shown a ‘We’ve saved your application’ screen containing two messages, one of which promised: “If we need to close applications, we will give you six weeks’ notice”. He claimed it was “shown in error due to a technical issue”.

He added it “should not have been included” and apologised for the confusion it caused.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “The Government’s abrupt and wholly unacceptable decision to close the scheme was always wrong. While it’s good to see an acknowledgement that the decision to close the scheme was flawed, we are disappointed by the constraints imposed which will still leave many farmers unfairly disadvantaged.

“This is a really critical time for the farming industry, and while today’s announcement falls short of what our members deserve, this issue highlights the NFU at its very best, working with its members to stand up for what we believe is right.”

The farmers concerned received significant support from the NFU’s policy and legal experts, as well as funding support from the NFU’s Legal Assistance Scheme.

Mr Zeichner also said that while SFI remains closed for all other farmers, work on the next version of SFI was “already well underway”, with more detail about the reformed offer set to be published “this summer”.

Country Land and Business Association (CLA) President Victoria Vyvyan welcomed the announcement, pointing out: “It’s a limited amount of money, but it does take a bit of the sting out of the suddenness of the closure.

“The way for DEFRA to avoid such a shock again is to be open and transparent, and work with industry to design the revised scheme.”

She said the CLA had been lobbying for the government to take note of the thousands of farmers who were mid-application when the SFI scheme suddenly shut. “We’re glad they have now listened,” she added.

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