Yesterday DEFRA and the RPA announced two important changes to Stewardship and SFI payment rates from January 2023:
New revenue rates will be introduced for all new and existing Mid Tier and Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreements from 1 January 2023.
On average, there will be a 10% increase in revenue rates. However, this will differ between agreements and not all revenue rates will increase if the evidence suggests current rates reflect market conditions.
Further to that, they have also announced changes to capital grant payment rates for new applications from January 2023. On average the payment rate have been increased by 48% (with some staying the same and some slightly decreasing). For more information about the capital grant rates please click here.
They are also introducing a new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Management Payment of £20 per hectare, for up to 50 hectares of land entered in the scheme. This means farmers will receive up to £1,000 per year in addition to their agreement to cover the administrative costs of participation.
This payment will apply to those already in the Sustainable Farming Incentive and it will be applied from this point on.
