Open letter signed by green groups calls for a 10 per cent organic farmland target in England, backed by an ‘Organic Action Plan’
The Soil Association has called for Defra’s “long-awaited” update on the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) to include backing for organic farming as green groups sign an open letter calling for 10 per cent of farmland to go organic.
Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds announced June and September dates for the reopening of the SFI ahead of her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 8 January.
Replacing the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), which provided subsidies to farmers before Brexit, the SFI provides financial rewards for farmers in England for sustainable practices.
It was paused abruptly in March last year, removing government support for organic farmers, which had previously been provided in recognition of the environmental benefits that organic can deliver.
The freeze on SFI also removed support for those going through the two-year organic conversion period – a time when farmers must adhere to the strict standards but cannot market their products as organic.
The announcement from Defra does not yet include organic and came on the same day that 18 environment and farming groups signed a Soil Association open letter calling for government to back the sector.
The letter, signed by Wildlife and Countryside Link, Nature Friendly Farming Network, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, River Action and others, calls for a 10 per cent organic farmland target in England, backed by an Organic Action Plan.
Soil Association policy director Brendan Costelloe said: “It’s good to finally get confirmation that the Sustainable Farming Incentive will reopen after an uncertain wait for farmers over the last year.
“But we are concerned that there remains a long wait for many farmers when we need all farms, big and small, to be adopting nature friendly practices right now.
“We also desperately need the government to provide reassurance that they will back organic in both SFI windows. With 30 per cent more biodiversity on organic farms, the UK’s declining wildlife cannot afford more uncertainty.
“The government needs more of this type of farming if it is going to meet its climate and nature goals. More and more people are buying organic, and it is madness to offshore the environmental and economic benefits by meeting this demand with imports.
“The government urgently needs to provide clarity for organic within the SFI and listen to all of the groups signing our open letter calling an Organic Action Plan for England with a target for 10 per cent of farmland to go organic.”
The open letter points out that the previous Labour government’s Organic Action Plan from 2002 led to a peak in organic farmland in England in 2008. But since then, it has decreased by around a third while organic farmland in the UK remains stuck at three per cent.
The Soil Association argues this does not make sense since at the same time, the UK organic market has more than doubled, with the UK said to be “heavily reliant” on organic imports.
In response to the announcement from Defra, the Soil Association is also calling for continued investment in farm collaboration schemes and protected landscapes, with a focus on heavily nature-depleted lowland areas, with support for organic “as a solution that can restore nature without taking land out of production”.
In addition, the association wants to see earlier windows for SFI applications, while still ensuring that small farms and those without an existing agreement are prioritised, to enable all farms to swiftly put green farming plans into action.
