NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt said: “Farmers and growers who are eligible for the first window of SFI26 will be relieved to be able to apply for the funding they need to support sustainable practices on farm.
“It’s particularly good to see that Defra has acted on our asks and enabled those with agreements ending before March to pre-apply for SFI26.”
The NFU has continuously called on Defra for certainty for expiring agreement holders. By allowing farmers to apply for land in expiring agreements before those agreements have ended, 28,000 farmers will be able to apply for funding to continue carrying out vital environmental work.
Robyn said: “While it is all budget dependent, this should help prevent gaps between agreements, meaning farmers can continue to deliver environmental benefits and be paid for it.”
“For thousands more farm businesses, it will give them confidence to start preparing an application to submit once the second window opens later this year.”
Budget concerns
Window 1 of the SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) opened on 30 June, as set out in Defra’s latest blog post. It is open to small farms (less than 50ha) and those without an existing ELM (Environmental Land Management) revenue agreement.
The window is also demand-led, remaining open for around two months or until the budget has been fully allocated.
Defra will provide updates when approximately 25%, 50% and 75% of the budget has been allocated.
There is a budget of £60 million for Window 1, with the remainder of £240 million available in Window 2.
The NFU is concerned that the budget does not meet farmers' ambitions for environmental delivery.
Certainty for agreement holders
Crucially, farmers with SFI23, CSMT (Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier), CSHT (Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier) or HLS (Higher Level Stewardship) agreements which expire by the end of February 2027 will be able to pre-apply for the new iteration of the scheme in the second application window.
Window 2 is due to open in September 2026.
This means they will be able to apply before their existing agreement expires, with SFI26 agreements starting soon after the expiry date.
