Defra

National Sheep Association (NSA) chief executive Phil Stocker shares his thoughts following a meeting on March 17 with Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner and other industry leaders to discuss the closure of SFI

The Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grant scheme has been extended until March 2026

The programme, which opens for applications this spring, enables farmers to run trials of new technologies which may not otherwise be viable

Simon Haley, founder of SRH Agribusiness, said for farms in England, REPF had been the sole funding avenue for on-farm diversification projects since 2019

Funding sought by livestock farmers for the roofing capital option RP28 to assist with compliance in reducing water pollution for silage stores and livestock manure storage areas was now ‘less' under the new caps

Simon Britton, of Knight Frank, said struggling 'upland farmers' could benefit from a redesign of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme but arable and lowland livestock farms may need to 'reconsider expectations'

Patrick Holden, chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, has called for a ‘coalition of stakeholders' to reward farmers for ‘positive climate, nature and social outcomes' as part of a ‘Sustainable Markets Initiative'

Exmoor farmer Robin Milton said ‘trust and confidence in SFI had been wrecked' and it would take ‘some exceptionally good assurance' before many farmers would trust integrating it into their business again

Can we reimagine the way crops are grown similar to a car assembly line? And in a smart farm, could robots soon be monitoring, planting, picking and packing the millions of lettuces eaten in the UK every year?

In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on yesterday's emergency roundtable meeting on SFI, with the Farming Minister criticised for providing lack of clarity on the what the future redesign of SFI will look like, and for showing a lack of empathy for those farmers who missed out on SFI. She also reports on farmers defending Scottish Minister Mairi Gougeon and criticising the level abuse she received online, as she announced she is stepping down from her post after more that half of her life in politics. And don't forget to sign up to our free webinar on Inheritance Tax ( March 27), where an expert panel will be unpicking any updates from the Spring Statement the day before