The Government needs to take a long hard look at the way it delivers the Sustainable Farming Incentive

The Government’s lacklustre handling of the latest Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) window should set alarm bells ringing across Whitehall. Ministers at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) should be demanding answers as to why the window for applications closed in less than six hours.

Clearly, the Government had not properly consulted the sector to prevent the second window from turning into a game of who could press the button the fastest. If Defra ministers had any idea of the long hours demanded of farmers, they’d have known that their approach was flawed. While many were busy putting food on the nation’s tables, they were being penalised for it by the handling of the latest SFI window.

The Government has pledged to open SFI27 as early as possible. That is to be welcomed as it would provide farmers with clarity for the year ahead.

However, the problem is that the SFI budget is simply not sufficient and there is no mechanism to prevent it from turning into a first come, first served scramble.

Farming Minister Stephen Morgan says that he has heard the concerns of farmers who were locked out of SFI26 and pledged to work closely with farmers to learn lessons for this year.

Although he added that the Government was “exploring alternatives to a first-come, first-served application process”, it is not known what these alternatives would look like. The very stop-start nature of SFI also needs to be addressed as it creates uncertainty for farmers.

If the Government wants to get SFI27 right then it needs to talk to farmers and take on board what they have to say. This year’s debacle could have been avoided had Defra taken on board warnings from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).