Living up to SFI and its actions

Delivering Expertise to Support Sustainable Farming Success The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is a vital component of the UK’s Environmental Land Management Scheme, designed to promote sustainable farming practices.

By offering over 100 modules tailored to diverse farming needs, the SFI combines financial incentives with practical actions to improve soil health, productivity, and resilience. At Agrii, we leverage our agronomic expertise and innovative tools to ensure growers can navigate these opportunities effectively.

SFI and Soil Health At the heart of the SFI are modules like SAM1, SAM2, and SAM3, which focus on soil health and resilience, and NUM1, NUM2, and NUM3, which promote better nutrient management. These modules aim to build knowledge, improve nutrient efficiency, and foster the adoption of organic nutrient sources.

Agrii’s team of BASIS- and FACTS-qualified agronomists are well-versed in these requirements. With their technical expertise and comprehensive training, our agronomists are equipped to guide growers through every stage of the SFI process, from soil management plans to compliance reporting.

Understanding Soil Acidity Although not a standalone SFI module, soil acidity (pH) is fundamental to achieving the goals of both soil and nutrient management plans. Maintaining an optimal pH supports nutrient availability, microbial activity, and earthworm populations—all crucial for healthy soil function.

Recent data from the 2023 British Survey of Fertiliser Practice reveals a significant decline in soil health. Over the past two decades, the average UK soil pH has fallen from 6.7 to 6.3, with fewer than 5% of fields receiving lime annually.

This drop has serious implications:

• Nutrients such as phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium become less available.
• Earthworm populations and microbial activity decline, reducing organic matter breakdown and nutrient cycling.
• Crops become less resilient to stressors such as waterlogging and compaction.

Because the pH scale is logarithmic, even small changes have a large impact. For example, soil at pH 5 is 100 times more acidic than soil at pH 7.

Practical Steps for Soil Management

To address these challenges, soil management plans should include regular testing and remediation. Agrii offers a range of soil analysis services, covering essential parameters such as pH, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg). These results provide a foundation for informed decisions about lime application and nutrient management. Correcting Soil Acidity: • Lime application is one of the most effective ways to restore soil pH and improve nutrient availability. • Agrii’s Contour platform integrates soil data, enabling growers to visualise nutrient maps and develop precision application plans with ease.

PRF1: Supporting Variable Rate Applications

The SFI’s PRF1 action focuses on variable rate applications (VRA) of major nutrients, offering £27/ha/year as part of a three-year agreement.

Compliance requires:

• Using VRA equipment pre-programmed with data from zonal soil or crop testing, or remote sensing.

• Applying nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg) using accurate, up-to-date data.

• Conducting nitrogen VRAs no more than 14 days after generating crop reflectance data. Agrii supports growers with the tools and expertise needed to meet these criteria.

Our Contour platform ensures precise application rates, while our agronomists help translate data into actionable insights.

ClearSky: Overcoming Imagery Challenges

In spring 2024, poor weather conditions hampered growers relying on satellite imagery from Sentinel-2, with heavy cloud cover obscuring data. Agrii’s partnership with ClearSky addresses this issue, delivering guaranteed cloud-free imagery every six days through synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology.

Key Benefits of ClearSky:

• Full-spectrum optical and infrared imagery, including NDVI and GCVI indices.

• Reliable data unaffected by weather conditions, ensuring consistent monitoring. Analysis of 900,000 hectares in 2023 revealed:

• Sentinel-2 satellites provided an average of 13.3 clear images per farm annually.

• Combining Sentinel-2 with ClearSky increased this to 60.8 images, offering unparalleled data reliability.

Ensuring Compliance with SFI Actions

Meeting SFI requirements isn’t just about ticking boxes. Participants must demonstrate adherence through detailed reporting and data transparency. Agrii’s tools, from soil sampling services to digital record-keeping platforms, make compliance straightforward and auditable.

Agrii’s combination of technical expertise, advanced tools, and personalised support makes us the ideal partner for growers participating in the SFI.

Our BASIS- and FACTS-qualified agronomists offer unparalleled guidance, helping growers:

• Develop comprehensive soil and nutrient management plans.

• Implement precision farming techniques using Contour and ClearSky.

• Ensure compliance with SFI modules while maximising their environmental and financial benefits.