The entire £253 million SFI26 budget was allocated in less than six hours, bringing applications to an abrupt close and leaving thousands of farmers questioning the viability of their farming business.
The rapid uptake of the scheme comes as no surprise. The NFU has made repeated warnings of a lack of sufficient budget clear to Defra for some time.
Its closure in less than six hours shows the scale of demand there is from farmers to deliver for the environment and to invest in farm resilience.
We continue to call for clarity and urgency from Defra Open SFI27 in early 2027, to allow agreements to start from 1 April, prioritising those with expiring agreements to minimise gaps in environmental payments.
This should be followed by regular opportunities to access SFI. For advice on what to do if you experienced issues with SFI26 Window 2, read the NFU guidance online.
What’s on in Worcestershire
We have had some excellent meetings across the county recently. The Farmers’ Service at the Cathedral was enjoyable as always. The visit to Weaving Machinery was excellent, and there were many winners at the Pershore & Upton Crops and Livestock Competition Dinner.
If you missed any of these, please do let me know and I can add you to the County WhatsApp or Facebook group where these events are promoted. Email me: [email protected]
County meeting
We will have a county meeting at 6pm on Tuesday, 27 October at Shires Farm, Hawford. The guest speaker will be Rebecca Lashley from Worcester County Council, who will launch the next round of funding for environmental measures in the county.
Up to 75% funding is available for wildflower meadows, ponds and waterways, orchards, hedge and tree planting – in fact anything to enhance habitats and investments to boost nature recovery.
This funding supports Local Nature Recovery in the county and is provided by Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s natural Networks Scheme.
Natural Networks is a free advisory service for landowners, organisations and communities, aiming to enhance Worcestershire’s greenspaces and create corridors across the county to help improve and better link these important spaces for wildlife.
Following on from a seven-year partnership with Worcestershire County Council, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is continuing to run Natural Networks, providing wildlife enhancement advice and support, helping local people to make impactful changes to benefit nature.
Please come along to find out how you can access this funding. Book your place.
Fire prevention
I recently met with Hereford & Worcester chief fire officer. He was keen to work collaboratively with the NFU to do all we can to prevent farm fires.
We have secured funding so that every appliance has an adapter, so that farm bowsers can be used as a source of water. He has also committed to send a team to the County Farm Safety morning on 14 October.
County AGM
Our AGM will be held at 7pm on 1 December at Shires Farm, Hawford. This year we have Sophie Throup, the new(ish) director general of the NFU as our guest. Book your place now.
County Chair's Dinner
We are delighted that Baroness Minette Batters has agreed to speak at this year’s dinner on 6 November at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. where she will also be doing a book signing of her recently published autobiography Harvest.
Most of the tickets have now been allocated. Please do let me know if you can no longer attend so that we can squeeze others in.
Clive Roads will again be running the auction and there are some smashing lots on offer this year: a Stihl leaf blower; a four-day weekday stay in a superb converted barn with an open-plan living space; a bottle of House of Commons champagne signed by Kemi Badenoch and a Christmas wreath-making workshop for 10 people to name just a few.
This year’s charity will be the Farming Community Network.
County comms
Please join the NFU Worcestershire Facebook page or WhatsApp group where I post updates on what’s happening in policy and in the county. Just email me if you would like the joining link. [email protected]
I look forward to seeing you across the county soon.