\u201cVicki Hird, the strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts, compared the scramble for SFI funding to \u201cthe scramble to get Oasis tickets\u201d and said it was shocking to watch the funding disappear so quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government really needs to get the budget in order to ensure farmers have the funding they need for nature, food security and national security,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Alice Groom, the head of sustainable land policy at the RSPB, said it was \u201cunprecedented\u201d for the budget to be used up so quickly. \u201cWe thought the money would go quickly but not necessarily in one day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefra doesn\u2019t have a way of managing the budget. SFI is supposed to be spent on meeting environmental goals and transitioning to environmental farming, but it\u2019s now first come first served.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will likely be thousands of farmers who haven\u2019t been able to apply for any funding, which will have implications for their ability to deliver for the environment on their farm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Farmers have suffered the \u2018toughest summer in a generation\u2019. Photograph: Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Throughout the day, farmers who had been experiencing problems with their SFI applications had to wait up to five hours to speak to someone to get help. Martin Lines, the CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming<\/a> Network, said this will have meant they won\u2019t have spoken to someone until after the scheme had closed.<\/p>\n This year has been extremely challenging for farmers because of crop-destroying heat and drought alongside soaring fertiliser costs tied to the war in Iran. The SFI funding will have been seen as a way for many farmers to invest in the future of their businesses, he said.<\/p>\n
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