September

After 18 months in which the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) – Defra’s flagship mechanism to help farmers deliver the food and nature outcomes on which this nation depends – was closed, farmers had less than six hours to submit their applications for three-year periods of funding before the door was once again slammed shut.

The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust and partners are developing a new farmer cluster in the King Edward Burn catchment in north Aberdeenshire near Banff. Following on from a successful farmer cluster workshop held in Turriff in February, the project will bring farmers together to share knowledge, access advice and funding opportunities, and take practical steps to build more resilient and sustainable farms.