Check you and your land are eligible for an SFI standards agreement
Find out if you and your land are eligible for an SFI standards agreement.
Applies to England
To enter into a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards agreement, both you and your land must be eligible.
Your eligibility to apply for an agreement
To be eligible to apply for an SFI standards agreement in 2022 your business, the Single Business Identifier (SBI) that’s applying for SFI, must be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). This means the SBI must have at least 5 hectares (ha) of BPS eligible land and 5 or more BPS entitlements on 16 May 2022.
The 5 ha of BPS eligible land does not set a minimum eligible area for an SFI standards agreement, as there is no minimum area.
Your business does not need to claim BPS in 2022 or to have received BPS payments in the past. This rule is simply to limit applicants to those who are eligible for BPS. This requirement will be removed in later years, so a wider range of farmers can apply for an SFI standards agreement, but that’s unlikely to happen before 2024.
If you apply for a separate SFI standards agreement on common land or an area of shared grazing, this BPS eligibility rule works differently. Read more information about common land and shared grazing.
Your land’s eligibility
A land parcel is eligible to be entered into an SFI standards agreement if:
- it is wholly located in England
- its registered land cover (shown on your digital maps in the Rural Payments service) and its land type are eligible for the standards you choose
- you will have management control of the land for the duration of your 3-year SFI standards agreement
You can choose which eligible land parcels to enter. You do not have to include all of your land parcels and there is no minimum or maximum area.
Eligible land cover and type of land
You can only enter land into your SFI standards agreement that’s eligible for the standard you choose. This means it needs to:
- have an eligible ‘land cover’
- be an eligible land type
Land cover
Each land parcel has one or more registered land covers. These identify what broad category the land is. There are 4 categories of land cover:
- arable land
- permanent grassland
- permanent crops
- other (non-agricultural)
You can view the land cover currently registered for each land parcel outside a common on your digital maps in the Rural Payments service.
Common land is not shown on your digital maps. You can check the maps we have previously provided to you to check the land cover on the common land. When you apply for SFI on common land, you will be able to view the land parcels on a digital map as part of the application process. Before applications open, we’ll publish information on GOV.UK to help you apply on common land.
Certain identified land covers are eligible for each standard. You can find out which land covers are eligible for each of the standards in each of the standards.
The ‘available area’ for each land parcel is shown in your SFI application. This is based on the land cover currently registered that’s eligible for the standard you have chosen. When you select a land parcel, its total ‘available area’ is included in your SFI application. You cannot reduce this available area in your application.
For example, if you choose the arable and horticultural soils standard and select a 10 hectare (ha) land parcel that has 8 ha of Arable land cover and 2 ha of ‘Other’ non-agricultural woodland land cover, the available area for this standard is 8 ha. You can only include this 8 ha in your SFI application. You cannot reduce it to 7 ha.
Land type
The land type describes the detailed use of the broad category of land cover. For example, different types of grassland or arable crop types.
A land parcel with an eligible land cover for the standard you choose must also be a land type that’s eligible for that standard. This means its total ‘available area’ shown in your SFI application must be an eligible land type.
For example, if you choose the improved grassland soils standard, the land parcel must be improved grassland.
This is explained under ‘Eligible land’ in the information on each standard. You can also read more information about eligible land covers and land types for the SFI standards.
Management control of land
To enter land into an SFI standards agreement you must have management control of that land for the 3-year duration of the agreement.
You will have management control if you have sufficient control over how the land is managed to complete the actions in the standards chosen, for the duration of the SFI standards agreement. This will usually mean you’re the person actively farming the land who is:
- the owner occupier, farming the land yourself or employing a contractor
- a tenant with a Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, or an Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 tenancy
- in a group that farms on common land (including areas of shared grazing)
When you enter land into an SFI standards agreement, you declare that you will have management control of that land for the agreement’s 3-year duration. You must supply evidence to show this if we ask for it.
The following information explains what management control means for tenants, licensors and commoners.
Management control of tenanted land
Only a tenant can enter land occupied under a tenancy into an SFI standards agreement. This is because they’re the person actively farming the land, not the landlord.
As a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete the actions in the standards you select.
If you occupy land under a tenancy on a ‘rolling’ year-by-year basis, you can only enter this land into your SFI standards agreement if you expect to have management control of that land for its 3-year duration. For example, this may be the case if you occupy land under:
- an FBT granted for a term of more than 2 years, that continues on a rolling year-by-year basis after its initial term ends
- an FBT granted for a term of 2 years or less that you expect your landlord to renew on an annual basis
You must not enter land into your SFI standards agreement if you do not expect to have management control of that land for its 3-year duration.
If you’re unsure whether you will have management control of the land occupied under a tenancy for the 3-year duration of your SFI standards agreement, you should check with your landlord.
If you unexpectedly lose management control of the land occupied under a tenancy during your 3-year SFI standards agreement, you must tell us as soon as reasonably practicable. We will remove that land from your SFI standards agreement.
If your loss of management control was because of a change of circumstances, you may not have to repay payments already received.
For more information, read about what happens if you cannot deliver your agreement, or your circumstances change.
Management control of land you access under a licence
If you only have access to land under a licence arrangement (so you’re a licensee), it’s unlikely you have sufficient management control of that land to complete the actions in the standards.
In this case, the licensor (usually the owner occupier) could enter the land into an SFI standards agreement and make the licensee aware of its requirements, if relevant.
If in practice your arrangement with the landowner gives you wider land management responsibilities, similar to those of a tenant, you may be able to enter this land into an SFI standards agreement. For example, some licences on Ministry of Defence land operate in this way. If this applies, you should refer to the information on tenanted land above.
Management control on commons and shared grazing land
Read about how the management control rule applies for commoners and shared graziers.
Other land eligibility issues to consider
You should also consider the following land eligibility issues.
Land in another agri-environment scheme agreement
Land in an existing agri-environment scheme agreement, such as Countryside Stewardship, may also be eligible for an SFI standards agreement if:
- you and your land are eligible for each scheme
- the activities you’re being paid for under each scheme are compatible
- you are not being paid twice for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time (known as ‘double funding’)
Read the information about the interaction between SFI with other schemes.
Scheduled monuments, historic and archaeological features
If you select a land parcel in your SFI application that contains a scheduled monument, historic or archaeological feature, you will be told that you must request a Sustainable Farming Incentive Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (SFI HEFER).
The SFI HEFER will tell you about any known historic and archaeological features on your land, including scheduled monuments. It will also tell you how they affect the actions you can take under the standards.
Read the information about regulatory issues and consents to find out how to request an SFI HEFER.
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)
Land designated as an SSSI is eligible for the standards available in 2022, but you may need consent from Natural England. This depends on which standard you’re applying for.
You must give notice to Natural England and get its consent before you carry out any listed operations requiring Natural England consent (ORNEC) on SSSI land. You are responsible for making sure that you have complied with the consenting requirements set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 before you carry out any operations. If you don’t, you may be committing an offence.
Read the information about regulatory issues and consents.
Last updated 26 May 2022 + show all updates
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Updated information about common land and sites of special scientific interest.
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First published.