Soil Organic Matter #5: The Sustainable Farming Scheme in Wales
NRM
Agriculture
Are you a farmer with land in Wales? Then you need to know about the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).
The devolved Welsh Government has recently set out the proposals for the SFS in more detail. This is equivalent to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) introduced in England earlier in Summer. For more information on the SFI, you can read my previous blog on the topic here.
The SFS will be the main source of future government support for farmers in Wales, rewarding them for actions taken to combat climate change, natural emergencies, and sustainable food production. By financially supporting these actions, the scheme is encouraging the reduction of carbon footprints and the protection and enhancement of the natural systems that farming relies on.
One thing to bear in mind is that the SFS in Wales is constantly evolving. This stage of SFS development is based on previous feedback from the industry and stakeholders published in October 2020 (you can see the report here). However, the final decision on the scheme overall won’t be made until next year. Either way, the Basic Payment Scheme is set to continue until at least the end of 2023 to provide stability and certainty before the official introduction of the SFS in 2025.
So, what can farmers do to meet the SFS? Sustainable land management (SLM) will provide the framework for a new agriculture bill being introduced to the Senedd and will underpin all future farm support, including the SFS. Read on to find out more about the SFS, its structure and levels, its themes, the tests needed to be compliant, and how NRM can help.
What is the Sustainable Farming Scheme?
The Welsh government has proposed the development of a set of “National Minimum Standards” based on current cross compliance requirements, which will bring all agricultural regulations into one piece of legislation. This is meant to make it easier for farmers to comply with the law and will underpin the design of the new scheme.
The proposed SFS offers farmers the chance to participate at three levels. Each level introduces increased ambition with more targeted actions, as well as others to be delivered collectively.
| Levels | Description | Payment and Support |
|---|---|---|
| National Minimum Standard | • Legal requirements applicable to all farms i.e. NVZ regulation | • No payment • Advice and guidance • Future civil sanctions with potential for penalties |
| Universal | • Universal actions carried out by all farmers that join the SFS • Actions designed to make farms more sustainable and the building blocks to encourage further scheme engagement • All applicable actions must be delivered – cannot be opted out of | • Baseline payment • Capital payments • Technical support • Access to tools • Advice and guidance |
| Optional | • Higher level actions to build on universal actions • More complex to deliver • Tailored to the farm or specific areas – can choose which actions to implement | • Revenue and/or capital payments • Technical support • Access to tools • Advice and guidance |
| Collaboration | • Actions designed to be co-ordinated collectively at a landscape, catchment, or national scale. These could include: o Creation of interconnected habitats across landscapes and maximising environmental outcomes at a landscape scale through tailored collective actions o Development of supply chain opportunities through establishing producer organisations or co-operatives, collectively securing investment for infrastructure, or creating a unified brand for marketing and promotion o Sharing of knowledge and innovation through engaging farmers, academia and/or other organisations in research and development or through the sharing of practices. • Specific priorities requiring more delivery flexibility • Combination of actions required to deliver the most benefit • Greatest input from the farmer | • Revenue and/or capital Payments • Technical support • Advice and guidance |
What are the themes of the Sustainable Farming Scheme in Wales?
Proposed actions at each level have been published, but they are currently going through a co-design with industry experts and stakeholders. Hopefully, this should mean the actions proposed can be practically adopted by farmers. The levels and actions are linked to the following five themes:
The themes are:
- Resilient and productive
- Working with farmers to help them adapt to changes in the environment or market and providing support to help farmers improve the resilience of their farm businesses.
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle inputs, nutrients and waste
- Helping farms to reduce inputs, make the best use of resources and reduce environmental risk.
- Reduce on-farm emissions and maximise carbon sequestration
- Helping farms to become more efficient, reduce emissions and enhance existing carbon stocks through sequestration. Helping to make use of renewable energy and reduce the carbon footprint of food production.
- Protect and enhance the farm ecosystem
- Supporting farms to better manage their ecosystems, using nature-based solutions for healthy living soils and enrich farm and nature diversity.
- Benefit people, animals, and place
- Supporting farmers to proactively promote and improve their own wellbeing, their families, workforce, the wider community, and livestock. Supporting farms to enhance the beauty of the natural environment and provide opportunities for people to interact with rural culture, landscapes, and heritage.
See the proposed actions of each theme in full in the SFS report here.
As the UK’s leading provider of agronomic analysis, NRM can help farmers and advisors meet the conditions of many of these themes. For example, even though there is no explicit mention of soil carbon analysis, measuring and benchmarking will help you assess and monitor carbon sequestration with the view to reducing emissions and potentially capitalising on carbon market opportunities.
However, there is one key theme that we need to focus on, as it is being proposed that farmers must carry out soil testing as a universal requirement.
Reduce, reuse, recycle inputs, nutrients, and waste
| Theme | Theme Elements | Example Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Reduce, reuse, recycle inputs, nutrients and waste | 1. Make best use of artificial fertiliser through nutrient management and soil testing. 2. Prioritise the use of manure and fertility building. 3. Best use of supplements, antibiotics and medicines. 4. Minimise use of pesticides and herbicides through integrated pest management. 5. Make best use of grassland through alternative approaches to grazing, introducing multispecies leys and mixed grazing. 6. Lowering the environmental impact of ammonia emissions. | • (U) Carry out professional and farmer soil testing at Scheme entry and in time for contract renewal. • (O) Farmers will be rewarded for using a crop rotation which follows the basic principles and offers benefits to soil health and the wider environment. • (O) Use a graze and rest approach, for at least five months of the year. • (O) Slurry storage e.g. covering slurry stores and acidifying slurry. |
The full list of actions is available in the sustainable farming outline report here.
Soil is a hugely important natural resource, and the SFS has dedicated themes that aim to protect it. Under the reduce and reuse theme, the intention is to support farming practices that avoid water and air pollution, store soil carbon, enhance soil health, and increase system resilience to flooding and periods of drought.
Basic nutrient accounting/planning and soil testing is proposed as a universal action. This requires undertaking professional soil sampling at the beginning and at the end of the SFS agreement and includes farmer-led soil sampling. The proposed universal option for analytical and other measurement includes:
| Chemical Analysis | Nitrogen, pH, P, K, Mg |
| Biological Analysis | eDNA, respiration, earthworms |
| Physical Analysis | Soil structure, bulk density, water infiltration rate, VESS score2 |
A submission of nutrient account/plan is also proposed to provide evidence of nutrient budgeting, improvements in Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and analytical measurement.
How NRM can help with the SFS
NRM is entirely independent and offers the analytical services necessary to satisfy the final requirements of the SFS, whatever they might be. We provide benchmark values on soil carbon and health, measuring soil nitrogen supply, pH, P, K, Mg and trace minerals as well as analysis of grain and plant tissue. Measuring soils, plants and organic inputs before they are applied is a basic approach and can improve the management of nutrients within our farming systems. Unfortunately, up to 80% of nutrients can be lost to the air and water environments because of poor nutrient planning, soil function and resilience. Measurement enables better planning and decision-making based on information rather than opinion.
The Welsh government, as mentioned, is still consulting about how they can best support farmers in delivering the Scheme’s actions under each theme proposed. Under co-design, farmers and stakeholders can suggest other analytical tests that they think would inform and have a positive cost to benefit and ultimately help to deliver the objectives of the theme. If you farm or offer advice in Wales and want to get involved in the next stage of co-design, you have until the end of October, click here to find out how.
Be prepared for the introduction of the SFS in Wales and contact NRM or your advisor now.
My next couple of blogs will cover the requirements planned in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Watch this space!
References
Link to co-design https://gov.wales/sustainable-farming-scheme-guide#section-84768
Link to SFS proposals: Sustainable Farming Scheme: co-design of future farming | GOV.WALES
Visit NRM