This blog explains the annual declaration process for SFI 2024. For details of the annual declaration process for SFI 2023, please read the blog published on 13 August 2024. **What is the annual declaration?** The annual declaration is how you, as an SFI agreement holder, can confirm that you have met or expect to meet the requirements of your agreement for that year. It’s an important part of receiving the final payment for the agreement year. You’ll make your annual declaration online using the Rural Payments service, making it accessible and straightforward. **What you need to do** Each SFI agreement lasts for 3 to 5 years. As an agreement holder, you need to submit an annual declaration during the last 2 months of each relevant agreement year. The timing for the declaration depends on the start date of your SFI agreement, and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will let you know when the submission period opens. If we are unable to invite you to complete your declaration at the expected date, we will contact you by phone, email or letter. Before submitting an annual declaration, you should download a copy of the current year’s agreement. Below is a summary of what you need to do: 1. **Receive your notification** : RPA will tell you when the annual declaration period begins. 2. **Access the Declaration Form** : * Sign in to the Rural Payments service. * Click on the 'Business overview' section. 3. **Complete the Declaration** : * Click on the 'View Annual Declaration' button. * On the screen asking, ‘Can you make your annual declaration confirming that you are complying with all your agreement obligations?', select 'Yes'. * Review and submit your declaration. * When the annual declaration is submitted, a confirmation message pops up on the screen. You may want to take a screenshot of the pop-up message or make a note in your records that you have submitted your annual declaration. It’s important to submit your annual declaration within the timescale to receive the final quarterly instalment of your annual payment. Your final payment will usually be made 3 months after your third payment but will not be released until you have completed the 12th month of your agreement year. If you haven’t been able to meet your agreement requirements for this year, you should select ‘No’ and complete the free-text box to explain why. RPA will then review this information and contact you. **Key dates for submitting your annual declaration** Below are the opening and closing dates for the annual declaration based on the start date of your agreement. **Agreement start date** | **Declaration period opens** | **Declaration period closes** ---|---|--- **1 August 2024** | 1 June 2025 | 31 July 2025 **1 September 2024** | 1 July 2025 | 31 August 2025 **1 October 2024** | 1 August 2025 | 30 September 2025 **1 November 2024** | 1 September 2025 | 31 October 2025 **1 December 2024** | 1 October 2025 | 30 November 2025 **1 January 2025** | 1 November 2025 | 31 December 2025 **1 February 2025** | 1 December 2025 | 31 January 2026 **1 March 2025** | 1 January 2026 | 28 February 2026 **1 April 2025** | 1 February 2026 | 31 March 2026 **1 May 2025** | 1 March 2026 | 30 April 2026 **1 June 2025** | 1 April 2026 | 31 May 2026 **1 July 2025** | 1 May 2026 | 30 June 2026 You should mark the relevant dates in your calendar and complete your declaration promptly to avoid any delays to your payment. **More information** You can read more about the annual declaration requirements in section 12.1 of the SFI expanded offer for 2024: agreement holder’s information. There are different versions of this guidance you will need to use, depending on the start date of your agreement. If your agreement started: * on or before 1 August 2024, use version 1.1 * on or after 1 September 2024 but you applied by 11 March 2025, use version 1.2 If you need any assistance or have questions about the annual declaration process, please contact the Rural Payments Agency.

**21-25 July marks the 13 th annual Farm Safety Week. This week-long campaign has one goal - to encourage everyone in the industry to make farms safer places to live and to work.** Over the past 12 years, the message from the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), the charity leading the campaign, has been consistent: take extra care when working with animals, machinery and moving vehicles. The campaign has made significant strides in raising awareness and encouraging safer practices, but this year it focuses on shining a light on less obvious, but equally critical issues affecting safety and wellbeing. Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation said: “Over the years we have seen the attitudes and behaviours around farm safety changing but the pace of change is slow – too slow for the families of those we have lost in the industry and too slow for the thousands of farmers suffering every day with long term ill-health or serious injuries as a result of their work. This year’s campaign offers an opportunity for a reset in the way we approach farm safety and risk-taking. Each of us can improve how we work on the farm, but we also have a responsibility not to tolerate poor safety behaviours in others.” Farming continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK and Ireland, and Farm Safety Week will bring together over 400 farming organisations in five countries - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - to raise awareness, inspire change and encourage everyone in the industry to make farms safer places to work, live and visit. Carrie Smith, External Affairs Manager from RPA added: “We are proud to support the annual Farm Safety Week campaign. Farming is more than a job; it’s a way of life so keeping it safe is a responsibility we all share. Whether new to the industry or farming for years, we all have a role to play in improving the poor safety record that we can’t seem to shake.” This year’s campaign objectives are: * to continue challenging and changing the attitudes to risk-taking and working safely * to share evidence and real experiences of the past 13 years to remind audiences to take positive steps to improve their attitudes and behaviours * to highlight the importance of wearing PPE, especially eye protection, when carrying out a variety of farming tasks * to highlight the critical importance of safe operation of agricultural vehicles and, in particular, quad bikes * to celebrate the Farm Safety Heroes from each of the partner countries working to drive a positive change in the industry For more information on Farm Safety Week visit www.yellowwellies.org or follow @yellowwelliesUK on X/Facebook/Instagram using the hashtag #FarmSafetyWeek.

The regulations to strengthen the protection of hedgerows came into force on 23 May 2024.  The rules now protect all hedgerows on or next to agricultural land in England. In this blog we reflect on how we’ve supported people to follow the rules this year. We recap on the guidance, videos and podcast we’ve created to help customers, and we pick out some of the frequently asked questions to try and answer your queries. Firstly, here’s a reminder of the rules. * To protect active bird nests during this time, there is a hedgerow cutting and trimming ban from 1 March to 31 August (inclusive) * To prevent harm to the structure and health of the hedgerow, the regulations require a 2-metre buffer strip, measured from the centre of a hedgerow, where a green cover must be established and maintained * No cultivation or use of pesticides or fertiliser on land within 2 metres of the centre of a hedgerow **What have we done since the rules came into force?** 1. We introduced a regulatory framework which is a set of guidelines to make sure we have a consistent approach for the protection of hedgerows on agricultural land across the country. 2. We produced a statutory guidance document - Regulatory approach and use of civil sanctions for the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 - GOV.UK which sets out RPA’s regulatory approach. We believe that prevention is better than cure. We’ve established a regulatory oversight panel to make sure we use the sanctions consistently. 3. We’ve published guidance on the Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming and and Hedgerow management rules: buffer strips and produced a video and a Podcast to help explain the rules. 4. We’ve set up a dedicated team to deal with all the questions and queries we receive. They will also look into cases where we’ve been told about a possible breach of the rules. If we think the information and evidence warrants further checks, we will arrange a site visit. 5. Our field officers have received training to enable them to carry out visits in line with our statutory guidance and RPA Regulators' Code and also the Better Regulation Framework guidance. They’ve carried out a series of visits where they’ve worked with and supported people to do the right thing by using an outcome focused regulatory approach. They've provided advice and guidance to help prevent harm to the environment. **Frequently Asked Questions** These are some of the frequently asked questions we’ve responded to this year. **Are domestic hedgerows covered by the rules?** We’ve received a number of reports of cutting and trimming of domestic hedgerows. The cutting and trimming rules do not apply to hedgerows within the area of land around a domestic dwelling or to hedgerows that mark the boundary of the dwelling. The rules only cover hedgerows on, or next to, agricultural land. This could include hedgerows which are on agricultural land but form the boundary between other areas such as golf courses and village halls. The cutting and trimming rules also apply to hedgerows bordering allotments. **Who do the rules apply to?** Farmers, landowners and contractors are the largest groups affected by these regulations. However, it is important to note that the rules could apply to any person responsible for the hedgerow. This includes owners and tenants, and anyone employed by or acting on behalf of those responsible. The cutting and trimming rules apply to the person who actually carries out the cutting and trimming. This means they apply to contractors who carry out such cutting and trimming. They can also apply to any person who causes or permits another person to cut or trim. **Reporting possible breach of the rules** Anyone can report a possible breach of the hedgerow management rules to RPA. Details of how to do this can be found on the Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming and Hedgerow management rules: buffer strips GOV.UK guidance pages. It is important to be aware that there are some exemptions to these rules which allow for cutting and trimming during the non-cutting period. These are set out on the Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming guidance. Please read these carefully before reporting a possible breach of the rules. For example, there is a public and private rights of way exemption that allows hedgerows to be cut or trimmed for road safety purposes. **Removal of hedgerows dealt with by Local Authorities** We've also received a number of reports about the removal of hedgerows. The hedgerow management rules only cover cutting and trimming and buffer strips. They do not cover the removal of hedgerows which remains the responsibility of Local Authorities. For more information read the Countryside hedgerow protection: removing hedgerows - GOV.UK guidance. **Derogations and agri-environment schemes (for example Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship)** You can apply to RPA for written permission (a derogation) to be exempt from the rules for any of the following reasons: * it would enhance the environment * it is necessary in relation to livestock or crop production * it would improve public or agricultural access Before applying for any derogation, consider the impact it may have on any agri-environment agreements you have. For example, if have you chosen the ‘Manage hedgerows’ action CHRW2 under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme. This action permits hedgerow cutting or trimming in autumn and winter only. Would a derogation from the hedgerow management cutting and trimming rules impact on your ability to meet your obligations under this chosen action?  If so, please contact RPA to discuss your options before you request a derogation. **Notifications for oilseed rape and temporary grass** Under Cross compliance which ended on 31 December 2023, farmers and land managers had to request a derogation to cut or trim their hedgerows in August to plant oilseed rape or temporary grass during that same August. They then had to wait for RPA’s written permission to do so. We have introduced a simple notification process for the hedgerow management rules. You do not need to wait for written permission before carrying out cutting or trimming before sowing oilseed rape or temporary grass. As long as you meet the rules, you only need to make sure your notification is received by the RPA. Make sure you receive an acknowledgement of your notification from RPA before carrying out any work. For email notifications this will be the automated RPA acknowledgement. You can find details of the notification process in the Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming and Hedgerow management rules: buffer strips guidance pages on GOV.UK. When you email your notification, please use the subject header 'Hedgerow management cutting and trimming rules notification’. **Where can I find more information on the hedgerow management rules?** You can find more information about the rules, when exemptions apply and what you need to do on GOV.UK. Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming - GOV.UK Hedgerow management rules: buffer strips - GOV.UK

We held a public consultation between 29 October and 10 December 2024, about our regulatory approach to enforcing The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 The consultation offered farmers, stakeholders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and members of the public the opportunity to review our draft statutory guidance. The consultation covered various aspects of RPA’s regulatory approach such as appeals and proportionate enforcement actions. We are grateful for the feedback we’ve received and would like to thank the 175 participants. **Consultation results** Today, we published the formal response to the consultation and the final statutory guidance on RPA’s regulatory approach and the use of civil sanctions. Our approach to enforcing the hedgerow regulations will remain the same following the consultation. However, we’ve made changes to the statutory guidance in response to the feedback. We received several responses suggesting that we should improve the examples to illustrate when different types of enforcement actions will be used. We’ve updated the statutory guidance to improve the examples to help make this clearer. We also received comments seeking clarity on the advice-led approach. We have updated the guidance to explain that in serious cases, civil and criminal sanctions could be used in the first instance, if it is appropriate. **Regulatory approach** We will, in most cases, provide advice and guidance in the first instance before taking enforcement action. In some cases, we may consider civil or criminal sanctions as our immediate response, where needed. **Hedgerow regulations** The new regulations came into force in May 2024. The regulations set out the responsibilities for protecting hedgerows on or next to agricultural land, by requiring: * a hedgerow cutting and trimming ban from 1 March to 31 August (inclusive) to protect active bird nests during this time. To prevent harm to the structure and health of the hedgerow, the regulations also require: * a 2-metre buffer strip, measured from the centre of a hedgerow, where a green cover must be established and maintained. * no cultivation or the application of pesticides or fertilisers should take place within this buffer strip. You can find guidance on these rules and exemptions in the buffer strip guidance and the cutting and trimming guidance on GOV.UK.

RPA has launched its first ‘What to expect from an RPA farm visit' video, providing farmers with essential information about sheep and goat identification visits and how to effectively prepare for them. The video series will form part of RPA's broader strategy to support farmers in meeting their regulatory obligations. We carry out visits for regulatory purposes, but we also aim to support farmers by offering advice and guidance to help improve compliance with standards and scheme requirements. Livestock visits are a legal requirement and may be conducted with up to 48 hours' notice. In this video we see Field Officer Ben Hastings go through the stages of a sheep and goats visit. He covers: * records check – on and off movements * biosecurity protocols * physical headcount of sheep/goats on farm * sample ear tag check of 60 animals * keeper details and replacement tags * birth/identification * deaths * annual inventory * more advice and next steps Once a visit is complete, the Field Officer will discuss their findings with you and where necessary, give guidance on how to correct any errors. It is a good opportunity for you to ask any questions as the Field Officer can answer any queries you may have. After the visit we will send you a copy of the report form completed by the Field Officer, which will detail the whole visit, including any guidance provided. For more information, please see the links in the video description.