Eco-award farmers call for clarity on green scheme

Award-winning farmers Mat and Lloyd Smith want the government to continue supporting sustainable farms

Two award-winning farmers have backed calls for a nature-friendly farming scheme to be reopened.

Fourth-generation farmers, brothers Mat and Lloyd Smith, won Sustainable Farm of the Year at the 2025 Farmers Guardian British Farming Awards, for combining running a profitable farm with support for nature.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has paid farmers to manage their land in a nature friendly way, but it was suddenly shut to new applicants earlier this year.

The brothers said much of their success had been achieved through working with the government-funded scheme. The government said there would be a "reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive offer in due course".

Mat and Lloyd's tenanted 198-hectare arable farm near Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, is home to several species of birds needing urgent conservation action and a growing variety of bees, butterflies and insects.

Their farming methods have seen them adopting strip tillage, inter-row hoeing and cutting nitrogen use by a third.

Their wildlife habitats have also been enhanced through wildflower corners and pollinator zones, alongside their bird seed business.

The farm has been regularly opened for community initiatives, including the sunflower walk which raised £3,200 for Peterborough's Thorpe Hall Hospice, run by charity Sue Ryder.

Launched in 2022, the SFI formed part of the payments that replaced EU subsidies after Brexit.

The initiative paid British farmers and growers to support the environment and help the government achieve its legally binding targets for wildlife recovery.

In October, the National Farmers Union (NFU) secured a one-year extension for the countryside stewardship mid-tier agreements for thousands of farmers following several months of campaigning.

But the union said the future of SFI was still unclear.

Mat Smith, who is also an NFU Cambridgeshire council representative, said: "The fact that we still don't know what SFI will look like in the future is a big concern going forward.

"Farming is going through a very challenging time and, without that support, many farmers will have to focus all their efforts on ensuring their business survives.

"And we're just concerned all the good work we're doing could be undone with the lack of funding in the future."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "We're backing British farmers to create a productive, profitable and sustainable future for farming.

"Through new technology, streamlined regulation and nature-friendly farming schemes we are helping farmers produce food for the nation.

"There will be a reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive offer in due course."