Journal

Spring 2024

Putting the Agrii SFI plan into action on-farm

Paul Pickford

Having pulled out of his SFI pilot on 214ha near Alcester in 2022, Warwickshire grower Paul Wilson has just entered all 755ha of G.W. Wilson & Sons’ owned and tenanted arable land and a small amount of permanent pasture into the 2023 SFI.

SFI ActionArea
SAM 1: Soil management planningAll
SAM2: Multi-species winter cover crops40ha
HRW1: Hedgerow recordingAll
HRW2: Hedgerow managementAll
HRW3: Hedgerow tree managementAll
IPM1: Integrated pest management planningAll
IPM3: Companion cropping120ha
IPM4: No insecticide use378ha
NUM1: Nutrient management reviewAll
NUM3: Legume fallow (three year)3.3ha
NUM3: Legume fallow (rotational)40ha
AHL2: Winter bird food5.3ha
AHL3: Grassy field corners and blocks12ha
AHL4: Buffer strips3.6ha
LIG1: Low input grassland17ha
Table 1. G.W. Wilson & Sons’ 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive Plan

Going through current practices, the two Pauls then identified specific areas for additional actions.

Will you be signing up to the IPM4 scheme: no use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops for £45/ha?

Thanks for your answer!

Even though it will only recover a third of their original BPS entitlement, Paul Wilson and Paul Pickford see the 2023 scheme as an important opportunity they need to seize in the post-BPS world, with carbon payments increasingly important.

The Agrii 3-step SFI process
Stage 1 – focus on the easy wins
Stage 2 – take advantage of the obvious areas
Stage 3 – time to do some homework