New environmental schemes deliver ‘easy win’ for organic farmers

The leaflet, which has been prepared by William Waterfield of the Farm Consultancy Group, is based on independent research highlighting the high environmental status of organic farms, which growers can capitalise on by stacking SFI and CS payments, said Roger Kerr, chief executive of OF&G.

“The data presents a robust argument to farmers considering converting to organic to take that positive step and full advantage of the new schemes,” he added.

The study incorporates two farm case studies – one predominantly arable, the other mostly livestock – of 210 hectares, which is the average size of organic farms certified by OF&G.

The technical leaflet shows the income comparison between old BPS and the combined CS and SFI payments, revealing an increase from £48,510 to £68,671 for the livestock farm and from £48,510 to £73,061 for the arable farm, with the latter equating to a 50.6% increase.

Given the substantial financial benefit, the organic certification body anticipates a significant divergence in the way English farms are managed following the roll out of Defra’s environmentally-driven policies.

Mr Kerr believes some farmers will be ready to take the new principles on board, while others will reject the schemes and will go all out for increased production and yield.

“Opting for the second route of increasingly intensive farming practices, which may produce higher yields in the short-term, will come at a huge environmental and societal cost and undermine the very basis of production and long-term food security,” he noted.

“We must build back resilience in our farming systems and embrace the transformational change this policy seeks to encourage,” Mr Kerr concluded

The technical leaflet can be downloaded from the OF&G website here: https://ofgorganic.org/docs/sfi-and-cs-for-organic-farmers-sept-2023.pdf