Farming unions in the UK have branded the government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) a “failing department” after it paused the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which provided reliable income to farmers practicing more environmentally-conscious agriculture. The SFI is part of the government’s £5 billion (US$6.5 billion) schemes for nature recovery and sustainable food production, with over 37,000 multi-year live agreements.
