As the year progresses, we are reminding Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement holders to submit their annual declaration.
What is the Annual Declaration?
The annual declaration is how SFI agreement holders confirm that they have delivered against their agreement for that year. It is an important part of receiving the final payment for the agreement year. Section 5.2.4 of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Handbook for the SFI 2023 offer (publishing.service.gov.uk) covers information on the Annual Declaration.
Submission Timeline and steps
Each SFI agreement spans three years, with agreement holders required to submit an annual declaration during the last two months of each relevant agreement year.
The timing for the declaration depends on the start date of your SFI agreement, and RPA will notify agreement holders when the submission period opens.
Here is a summary of the steps for submission:
- Notification: RPA will inform you when the annual declaration period begins.
- Access the Declaration Form:
- Sign in to the Rural Payment service.
- Click on the 'Business overview' section.
- Select 'SFI applications and agreements'.
- Complete the Declaration:
- Click on the 'Annual Declaration' button.
- On the screen asking, 'Are you in a position to submit your annual declaration?', select 'Yes'.
- Review and submit your declaration.
Importance of Timely Submission
It is important to submit your annual declaration within the designated period to receive the final quarterly instalment of your annual payment. The annual declaration process is to be conducted online via the Rural Payments service, making it accessible and straightforward for all agreement holders.
Key Dates for Annual Declaration Submission
To assist SFI agreement holders, we have outlined the opening and closing dates for the annual declaration submission based on the start date of the agreement:
| Agreement start date | Declaration period opens | Declaration period closes |
| 1 October 2023 | 1 August 2024 | 30 September 2024 |
| 1 November 2023 | 1 September 2024 | 31 October 2024 |
| 1 December 2023 | 1 October 2024 | 30 November 2024 |
| 1 January 2024 | 1 November 2024 | 31 December 2024 |
| 1 February 2024 | 1 December 2024 | 31 January 2025 |
| 1 March 2024 | 1 January 2025 | 28 February 2025 |
| 1 April 2024 | 1 February 2025 | 31 March 2025 |
| 1 May 2024 | 1 March 2025 | 30 April 2025 |
| 1 June 2024 | 1 April 2025 | 31 May 2025 |
| 1 July 2024 | 1 May 2025 | 30 June 2025 |
| 1 August 2024 | 1 June 2025 | 31 July 2025 |
| 1 September 2024 | 1 July 2025 | 31 August 2025 |
We encourage all SFI agreement holders to mark the relevant dates in your calendar and complete your declaration promptly to avoid any disruptions in payment.
For any assistance or questions regarding the annual declaration process, please contact the Rural Payments service.
4 comments
Comment by Paul posted on
Sorry if this is in the wrong section - it is very confusing to keep track of where to put comments and questions so that they are picked up and the responses also read.
My Qu. is:
Under SFI CLIG3 (Low Input Grass) the term is for 3 years but the cattle grazing supplement (GRH11) term is now for 5 years.
Is this correct that the supplement term will outlast the base action term?
(as surely in years 4 and 5 when there is no scheme agreement for CLIG3, the farmers income will be significantly reduced ?)
It seems illogical and in addition, the the native breed supplements (SPM2 + 3) are also only for 3 years.
I would be grateful if you would please clarify if this is the case and if so, the reasoning behind it, as a matter of urgency.
Thanks
Paul
Comment by RPA Editor posted on
Hi Paul. Thank you for your comment. For further information or help with this, you can do one of the following:
Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Call: 03000 200 301
Create an online query in the Rural Payments Service.
Please quote your single business identifier (SBI) and agreement number.
Comment by Paul posted on
Thank you for the quick reply Melissa,
I will try those routes but unfortunately from experience and from a user perspective:
- speaking with the RPA helpline rarely provides anything other than a sketchy response at best (normally it involves the person reading the same manual that we’ve already read),
- requesting a call back only very rarely results in actually receiving a call back, and,
- submitting an online query, takes weeks and sometimes months to get a response (and certainly any response other than quoting from, or referring to, the manual).
As I am sure others will have made RPA aware, the SFI scheme has become exceptionally complex and confusing (the options book is now 427 pages (and this doesn’t include the options advisory guidance nor the SFI agreement terms and conditions) which will inevitably put a lot of people off applying or getting the most out of the options available.
Perhaps you could pass this feedback to the policy twonks to consider before they make the scheme even more convoluted?
Comment by RPA Editor posted on
Hi Paul. Thanks for your helpful feedback and apologies for the delayed response. I have forwarded your comment to the relevant team who are currently reviewing your feedback. If you need anything in the meantime, please get in touch via contact methods mentioned in my previous comment.