NFU26: Defra Secretary's announcements explained

The reformed SFI offer for 2026 will consist of 71 actions, rather than the 102 previously available in the SFI24 extended offer. To manage budget pressures, there will be an agreement cap of £100,000 per annum.
 
There will be two SFI application windows in the coming year. The first will open in June for small farms (50ha in size) and/or those without an ELM revenue agreement. The second widow will open in September for other farmers.

Reacting to the news, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said he was “pleased that Defra has taken the NFU’s feedback on board in a number of areas where we were concerned about early plans for the new SFI”.

Get the full details on the changes on our SFI essential information page.

Capital grants will reopen for applications in July with a budget of £225m. This budget is an increase from £150m in 2025.

We await further detail to see if there will be other changes to the scheme before it opens for applications. This is expected in a few weeks’ time.

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2026 offer will receive a £50 million investment, helping to support farmers to invest in equipment to improve productivity, animal health and welfare and manage slurry. 

The FETF26 round will open on 17 March for applications and close on midday 28 April.

Note that from mid-March 2026 there will be two versions of the FETF operating with different rules in place; there will be the claim window for the FETF 2025 offer (closes midday 31 March, but some have until June to claim) and this new offer.

Visit our Farming Investment Fund page for all the information you need to know before applying.

The Farming Innovation Programme will receive a package of funding worth £70 million, aimed at moving cutting-edge research into practical tools, allowing farmers to cultivate new crops that will help them grow their business.

This package includes £30 million for the ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies) competition, with the next round of this due to open on 9 April. 

Visit our ADOPT essential information page to stay up to date.

The government is consulting on making its Animal Health and Welfare review mandatory in England – currently, farmers can apply to access funding for vet services covering pigs, sheep and cows. 

The consultation opened on 24 February and will run for 12 weeks, closing on 18 May.

It also seeks feedback on a wider package of proposed mandatory measures, including:

• an annual flock health plan for sheep
• a disease eradication programme for BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) in cattle
• a disease control and eradication programme for PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome) in pigs.

Defra's 25-year Farming Roadmap is due to be published this year. Ms Reynolds said all of the department's work across its new Farming and Food Partnership Board (due to have its first meeting in March), £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund, planning changes, and Baroness Batters' profitability recommendations will feed into the roadmap. 

One of the Farming and Food Partnerships objectives will be to oversee sector growth plans, the Defra Secretary confirmed, starting with horticulture and poultry, with others soon to follow. The NFU will be represented on the Board. 

The plans will identify the barriers to growth and profits, including regulatory frictions.

Alongside the Farming Roadmap, Defra will also be publishing a full response to Baroness Batters’ Farm Profitability Review.