Although clarity on the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is a positive step forward, land managers and farmers will still need to complete in-depth analysis to get the most out of the options, say Fera Science.
Paul Brown, senior GI remote sensing specialist at Fera, explained that now is the time for farmers and estate managers to invest in putting together a complete picture and insight into the potential of their land to make the most of the 23 options available from August.
He said: “Although the industry welcomes the overall SFI framework and there is ambition that it will go some way to replacing the outgoing basic farm payment scheme (BPS), it is dependent on land managers and farmers choosing the right mix of options for their specific farm situation and available features.
“Juggling multiple parcels of land and all the pressures that come with running a farm business means, time is precious, so making the most of the opportunities that these new SFI options provide by stacking them and combining options on features will not be a simple exercise.
“LAND360 is a valuable service to invest in because it can measure and map natural capital baselines on farmland accurately which will provide accurate data to benchmark, monitor progress from and provide the required evidence to secure scheme funding.”
Mr Brown explained that the LAND360 service can support with choosing the most effective of the options available from the SFI for individual farmer and land owners’ circumstances.
“One of the best examples is the new hedgerow options on offer. There are now two actions which can be combined for hedgerows which mean farmers can benefit from £3 per 100 metres for assessing and recording hedgerow condition, along with an action for managing hedgerows which is chargeable at £10 per 100 meters.
“So, in order to claim £13 per 100 meters of hedgerow, farmers will need to know exactly what the initial measurement of their existing hedgerows are, as well as having a way to accurately measure and monitor growth and change.
“This is where LAND360 will really come into its own. On it’s first level, Mapping+, LAND360 provides high resolution landscape mapping with the right level of detail down to biodiversity and ecological features to support SFI applications and claims on the new options.
“It applies the latest science and uses up-to-date satellite images to build a clear picture, or ‘map’ of the different aspects of natural capital within a farm’s boundary, including fields, margins, hedgerows, woodland and water features. Once you have this complete picture mapped out, the Fera team can also support with the process to decide which of the new options are the most appropriate for the farm business, all of which is backed up by science.”
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To read more about the latest SFI updates, click here
To find out more about what the LAND360 services can do, click here
To view a case study of Helmingham Estate to see how they are already using LAND360, click here
