Funding

Horticulture businesses have been ‘ignored’ in Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pilot, NFU vice president Tom Bradshaw has said.

Farm and environmental groups have raised a series of concerns over the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme pilot, after Defra published details of the scheme this week.

One of the discernible outcomes of the coronavirus pandemic has been the emergence of a ‘levelling up’ debate.

Defra Secretary George Eustice has set out further detail about what the Government’s 2022 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will look like.

A new £12 million research and development fund, Farming Innovation Pathways, has been announced by Defra and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Farmers who applied for 2020 Countryside Stewardship (CS) grants almost 12 months ago are still in limbo after civil servants said they could not visit their farms to sign off applications due to Covid-19.

The Foundation for Common Land (FCL) has offered to provide training to Defra staff after the department appointed an official with no prior knowledge of common land to focus specifically on policy for commons.

Record low or negative interest rates could see more farmers investing in new projects such as diversifications, expansion or kit that will help make them more efficient and reduce their carbon emissions.

Environment Agency (EA) bosses have told Ministers they need a greater budget if they are to ‘reverse the decline in nature’.

Rural communities in Wales are facing a double hit of potential cuts to development funding, Plaid Cymru has warned.