There is £225 million on offer for this round of capital grants, with farmers able to apply for a total of 80 items – 24 items will be unavailable should the Catchment Sensitive Farming endorsement not be in place before the offer opens.
As with last year's offer, available items will be organised into the six groups as:
- boundaries, trees and orchards
- improved water quality
- improved air quality
- improved natural flood management
- assessments
- improvements
New items include:
- stone gate posts
- planting fruit trees
- hinging trees into watercourses
- countryside educational access visits accreditation
- installing and maintaining signage under the ‘Improvements’ group
“[The guidance] provides much needed clarity for those looking to invest in environmental delivery and sustainability, enabling better forward planning.”
NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt
An application can include items from each of the six groups.
Timely guidance welcomed
NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt said: “The ELMs Capital Grants scheme has been popular with farmers and growers in recent years so the publication of the guidance for 2026 is welcome detail for those businesses wanting to apply in July, allowing time now to read about the offer.
“It provides much needed clarity for those looking to invest in environmental delivery and sustainability, enabling better forward planning.”
However, Robyn pressed the need for the same level of certainty for SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) 26, saying: “With June fast approaching, eligible businesses remain unclear on when the first application window will open. As this coincides with one of the busiest periods in the farming calendar for many businesses, the lack of detail is making effective business planning and time management extremely challenging.
SFI clarity vital for business planning
“We’re urging Defra to provide this clarity as a matter of urgency and set out the key details still missing, including SFI26 action details, how those in existing schemes ending this year could access SFI and how the budget will be allocated across the two application windows.”
Changes for 2026
Defra says that this year, the agroforestry items and the woodland condition assessment will not be available through Capital Grants. Instead, they will be available through the Higher Tier Capital Grants offer in latter 2026.
The offer for tree guard (tube and mesh) has been withdrawn and replaced by a new item for tree guard (narrow weld mesh).
Further detail on the key changes have been outlined by the NFU's expert advisers. Read: ELMs capital grants – essential information
