Responding to the announcement that Defra is closing applications for a key nature-friendly farming scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
"The fact that the SFI is already fully spent by March shows how high demand from farmers is and that the nature-friendly farming budget is inadequate. Farmers and environmentalists alike have urged the Government to consider significantly increasing the budget as part of the Spending Review. A better-resourced, more targeted and more ambitious scheme would provide a boost to food security, flooding and river pollution prevention, wildlife recovery and aid rural communities. It's a win-win investment that is crucial to supporting struggling wildlife and struggling farmers."
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