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All the latest news 

From Kelly Farm Consulting

Grass for Silage Quality Update

We are now into the third week of grass quality monitoring for the year. In the last week, we have seen a huge variation in rainfall across the South West, with some of our farms seeing rain exceeding 30mm and others seeing hardly any. There is also a wide variation in soil temperatures, with highs of 15 degrees and lows dipping as far as 1 degree still. The 10 day forecast looks positive, so consider whether its worth getting the contractors booked in for the end of next week!


Key points from this weeks report are:


  • Sugar levels have climbed by 20.3% compared to our previous set of samples, with results further south remaining static.

  • Protein:Sugar ratios have fallen sharply in the Gloucester & Bristol areas, moving much closer to the ideal 1:1 balance.

  • Nitrate concentrations remain comfortably below the 250mg/kg limit.

  • Maize drilling window is now open, but be cautious – soil temperatures are climbing well, but risk certainly remains.


Want all the detail? Check out the full report here:



Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help in any way. 



Sam Kelly

07777 696080


Charlie Davies

07904 601104


Alfie Rumsey

07399 117257

 

Office 01454 614624




 
 

Grass for Silage Quality Update

Updated: Apr 24

Silage season is in sight!


We’ve started our weekly fresh grass sampling ahead of 1st cut Grass growth picked up well in April after a very slow start, which will hopefully lead to good quality 1st cut in the clamp!


Key points from this weeks report are:


✅ Sugars are looking good, especially in Gloucestershire and Bristol

⚠️ Protein-to-sugar ratios are still high, but there’s time to balance

🧪 Nitrates are fine across all samples – but test your grass before cutting!

💡 Consider preservatives such as SafeSil (no, we don't take commission!) if protein to sugar ratio stays high or weather turns tricky


Want all the detail? Check out the full report here:



Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help in any way. 



Sam Kelly

07777 696080


Charlie Davies

07904 601104


Alfie Rumsey

07399 117257

 

Office 01454 614624




 
 

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2024 – Applications Closed

On 11 March 2025, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced an immediate halt to new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2024 scheme, citing full allocation of the available budget. We had always been told that they would give 6 weeks notice if they needed to close the application window, so this abrupt decision is extremely frustrating and again leaves a lot of farmers in a very difficult financial position.    

 

Existing agreements will be honoured, and those with pending, eligible applications will still have their agreements processed. A revised version of the SFI is anticipated, following the upcoming Spending Review, and we are told that the scheme will re-open to new applications in 2026 – time will tell what that scheme looks like! 

 

If you currently have an agreement offer from the RPA, please make sure it is accepted within the 10 day window as they are reserving the right to withdraw offers.

 

Crucially, applications that weren’t fully submitted before the closure (05:00 PM on 11th March 2025) will not be considered by the RPA, except in one of the following circumstances:

 

  1. Those blocked from submitting by system errors.

  2. Those who had requested ‘assisted digital’ support to apply.

  3. Ex-SFI Pilot Farmers whose Pilot agreement has already ended, but they haven’t applied for the Full 2024 Expanded Offer yet on land included within their Pilot agreement.

 

There were a significant number of applications ‘stuck’ in the system with errors, so hopefully this will allow some of those applications to be submitted in due course, rather than having to wait until 2026.  If you had an application in this position, we suggest you email the RPA as soon as possible with the application number and details of the error you are receiving (including screenshots if you can).  

 

If we are in the process of preparing an SFI application for you, we will be in touch as soon as possible to discuss the position of your individual application. 

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help in any way. 



Sam Kelly

07777 696080


Charlie Davies

07904 601104


Alfie Rumsey

07399 117257

 

Office 01454 614624




 
 

Kelly Farm Consulting 

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