Less than half of the respondents to a survey conducted by the land management experts Knight Frank’s Rural Division said they had registered for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), despite the fact that 87% of them are farming in a more environmentally friendly manner and may be eligible for public funding opportunities.

The poll, which gathers information for Knight Frank’s yearly state-of-the-nation Rural Report by capturing current trends and influences in land management, reveals that the financial burden of change, the reluctance to compromise food production, and often ambiguous options are the main obstacles to adoption.

“From our experience, the full potential of SFI has yet to be realized because many farmers harbor preconceptions from past environmental programs that discourage them from taking part. The expanded SFI however has 102 options to choose from as well as flexibility around which actions to take and how much land to include in the SFI agreement. What’s also attractive is that the SFI commitment can be a minimum of three years and has less severe prescriptions than previous schemes so it’s an opportunity to try different systems and see what works,” Associate and Agricultural Consultant at Knight Frank, Henry Clemons, said, cited by the British Potato Review.

According to Clemons, who specializes in both public and private sector grant funding options for rural businesses across the UK, this gives plenty of opportunity to complement the farming methods and objectives of most emerging firms.

“If you combine the SFI with the capital grants available, which can be more complex to apply for but can make a real difference, farmers will be able to replace a significant amount of the BPS. There’s also a real danger that, if the money is not spent, we will be returning another GBP100m to the Treasury as is currently being proposed,” he mentioned.

About 40% of those who participated in the survey said they would consider using regenerative farming methods. For instance, eliminating the need for pesticides and practicing no-till farming are beneficial since they can lessen the danger of switching from conventional farming methods.

Clemons is reminding growers that many of the options involve less productive areas, such as field margins, headlands, watercourse buffers, and the areas around in-field trees. As a result, the impact of adopting them on overall yields and profit should be minimal, while boosting biodiversity to attract the incentives. Eighty percent of respondents said that food production was ‘very important.’

“Although there are still a few niggles for Defra to iron out, we’re urging growers to take advantage as it’s an excellent tool that offers versatility. Each action contains advice to help the applicant deliver the required actions. There’s not one glove that fits all and it’s a matter of layering the different SFI actions to do what’s right for each individual business,” Clemons declared.

Clemons stated that now that the new labor administration is in power and developing its plans and policies, it is a good idea for companies that cultivate potatoes to assess their situation and make sure they are prepared to meet future opportunities and overcome obstacles.

“The environmental problem is not going away, and there’s recognition of the role farming can play in helping mitigate the world’s climate crisis. It’s important to continue to build a business strategy through both an environmental and a financial lens and for the next two years at least. The money is there, and growers should seek to maximize it to benefit the future of their business,” he concluded.