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SFI26 update
On 2 June, Defra published near final guidance for SFI26, complimenting the unchanged previously released information to help those preparing to apply for SFI26, which is covered lower down in this section.
Near-final scheme information for SFI26
Defra has published the information in this way to tease out any issues in drafting, but sharing at this time allows you to get into the detail. The final version of this information will be published around mid-June, before applications open.
What has been published is set out below and can be found at: GOV.UK | Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26): scheme information
- Terms and conditions which are mandatory and apply to all SFI26 agreements
- Scheme rules, which explain the mandatory requirements set out in sections 4 to 14 of the SFI26 terms and conditions. This guidance has been updated since the SFI24 versions, so please read carefully, especially if you are familiar with the previous SFI offers. If you have an SFI23 or 24 agreement it is important to continue to follow the respective scheme information for those agreements.
- SFI26 action information and mandatory requirements, which will be available on the ‘Find funding for land or farms’ tool on GOV.UK (or the HTML print version of the SFI26 scheme information). This means members can now review the actions available and consider which may work for their farm business. Defra has also set out, within each relevant SFI action, where changes have been made from the
- SFI24 actions for SFI26, so it is really critical to refer to the SFI26 actions.
- For SFI26, there are 71 actions that include:
- 70 actions previously offered under the SFI24 offer – any changes for SFI26 have been identified in each action, and
- one replacement action GRH12: Manage rough grassland for upland breeding waders’ (instead of GRH1: ‘Manage rough grazing for birds’ which was available in the SFI24 offer)
- Guidance to help someone apply for, and manage, their SFI26 agreement.
Rollout of window 1 becomes clearer
- Controlled rollout – Defra confirmed that they are inviting a small number of farmers who are eligible for window 1 to apply from around 18 June, to test the application service.
- Confirmation of window 1 Opening ‘From’ date – SFI 26 window 1 will open from 30 June 2026 for the two groups already mentioned (small farms and farms without an existing ELM (Environmental Land Management) revenue agreement).
- Window 1 will remain open for around 2 months. It may close sooner if demand is high and the window 1 budget is fully allocated.
- Once applications open, Defra will publish updates on how much of the window 1 and window 2 budget has been allocated on Defra’s Farming Blog. Defra intends to do this once 25%, 50% and 75% of the funding is allocated.
- Small farm help – Defra has set out that, for those that qualify as a small farm, they should view the map of popular SFI actions by region, which shows the most common actions chosen by mixed/arable and grassland farms up to 50 hectares already in SFI agreements.
Window 2 – for those not eligible or applying during the first window, Defra has reiterated that window 2 will open in September 2026 for all SFI eligible farmers and land managers.
Getting ready guidance
Previously published in early May and still important in the run up to applying is the focus of the following information for those eligible for the first application window, which is still due to open in June 2026.The eligible groups for this window are:
- Small farms
- Farms without an existing ELM revenue agreement.
More information is available on GOV.UK | Get ready to apply for SFI26.
It explains:
- When a farmer can apply – this includes information on the new limits for SFI26 agreements (one SFI26 agreement per farm business and a maximum agreement value of £100,000 per agreement year).
- Who is eligible to apply for Window 1 – this covers applicant eligibility criteria, and the definitions of small farms and farms without an ELM revenue agreement.
- What a farmer needs to do to get ready to apply before Window 1 opens – this includes checking your digital maps, contact details and permissions in the Rural Payments service.
Other SFI related recent developments
NFU co-signs letter on common land agreements
As the current IT system will not allow common land agreements to apply for SFI and CSHT, the NFU joins forces with national organisations in a letter to Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle, asking for a solution to be put in place.
Land Use Framework publishes targets
The government’s Land Use Framework signals that, by 2030, ELM schemes, where appropriate, will be spatially targeted. For SFI 2027, an approach will be developed that focuses payments for a selection of SFI actions in areas of greatest impact; other actions will continue. More information will follow later this year.
Defra Secretary outlines 2026 offer
At NFU Conference, Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds announced that 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. Applicants will be restricted to one SFI26 application per farm business.
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 agreement. The second widow will open in September for other farmers.
The additional changes are:
- The area of a rotational action will be limited to the amount or value entered in year one. In years two and three, areas can decrease, but not increase above the area or value in year one.
- Moorland payment rates will increase. The new payment rate will be applied to existing SFI agreements with these actions.
- Payment rates for herbal leys, legume fallows and winter bird food on arable land will decrease. Defra says these payments still reflect income forgone plus cost payment calculations. These reductions will only apply to SFI26.
- All management payments including CSAM1 (soils), CNUM1 (nutrients), CIPM1 ((integrated pest management), CMOR1 (moorland), agreement management payments have been removed.
- Enhanced winter stubble (AHW7) has been added to the actions limited to 25% of the SBI.
- Five-year actions will be reduced to three years in length and you can only apply for the base SFI26 action and supplement together.
Key resources
- The Defra handbook for all Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes can be found at: GOV.UK | Sustainable Farming Incentive guidance for applicants and agreement holders.
- Defra's FIND tool to help farmers search through the SFI26 and other current schemes actions (SFI23, SFI24 actions are not located separately to avoid confusion).
- What to expect from an SFI guidance visit
Timeline for applications
The first application window is due to open in June 2026 for small farmers and/or those without an agri-environment revenue agreement. A second application window will open in September for all other eligible farmers and land managers.
For Window 1, eligible farm businesses need to have been registered with the RPA by 1 January 2026 and have a single business identifier. This date will be used to assess whether the applicant meets the small farm eligibility definition – less than 50ha of agricultural land.
The SFI offer and payments
You have free choice of which actions you take and how much you include in your SFI agreement. Some actions do have area constraints. Most actions can be on part of the field. A few are a whole field. Where the action is ‘whole field’, this is the available area of the field after incompatible areas have been removed.
All management payments including CSAM1 (soils), CNUM1 (nutrients), CIPM1 (integrated pest management), CMOR1 (moorland), agreement management payment have been removed. There is one ‘agreement level’ SFI26 action (AHW2: Supplementary winter bird food). You do not enter specific areas of land into this action. Instead, you enter the relevant tonnage that you want to include in your SFI26 agreement.
For each of the SFI actions, there are eligibility requirements, payment rates, and instructions on what you must or must not do. Each action contains advice to help you deliver the actions.
They are written in a way to be flexible for your farm, allowing you to use appropriate seed mixes for your soil, for example. The actions outline other actions that can be stacked on the same area; when you apply, the online system should identify this for you.
Finally, for SFI26 the RPA's IT systems will manage what you can and cannot apply for, such as maximum annual value of an agreement and ability to only have one agreement.
Additional payments
For SFI 2026, there will not be an agreement management payment.
For agreements entered into in SF23 or in SFI24, there is a management payment. The first-year payment, for agreements starting by March 2025, will be £40/ha for the first 50ha entered into agreement. After the first year, this will reduce to £20/ha. This is based on option area. There is only one payment per SBI. Your first SFI agreement will be used to calculate the payment.
Area limits
Defra has limited the combined area of ten actions to 25% of the farmed land. This limit is applied across all SFI agreements attached to the holding that started from 26 March 2024. The list has been extended for SFI 2026 applicants, with enhanced overwinter stubble (AHW7) added and now also includes Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements from 2025 onwards.
The actions limited are:
- CIPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips.
- CAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix.
- CAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land.
- CAHL3: Grassy field corners or blocks.
- CIGL1: Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management.
- CIGL2: Winter bird food on improved grassland.
- WBD3: In-field grass strips.
- AHW1: Bumblebird mix.
- AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland.
- AHW11: Cultivated areas for arable plants.
- AHW7: Enhanced overwinter stubble (added for SFI26 applicants).
For an SFI26 applicant, without an existing SFI agreement, the actions limited by area are CIPM2, CAHL1, CAHL2, CAHL3. CIGL1, CIGL2, WBD3, and AHW7.
Eligibility
You need to have management control of the land to deliver the actions to be eligible for SFI.
To be eligible for SFI26 (for both windows one and two) farmers should have at least 3ha of agricultural land. This means that, at the point of application, the land needs to have been:
- registered with the RPA with the relevant agricultural land covers (arable land, permanent grassland or permanent crops)
- linked to the farm business’ SBI.
This minimum 3ha threshold does not mean you have to enter at least 3ha in your SFI26 application. You could apply on less than 3ha.
You will only be able to have one SFI agreement across both application windows for SFI26
Then, there are eligibility requirements for the SFI actions. Broadly, these require the land to be recorded on Rural Payments with the appropriate land cover. For example, for SFI arable actions, the field needs to have arable crops recorded. RPA mapping records need to match what is on the ground and that in turn allows the appropriate actions to be placed on the land. In addition, you need to have management control to be able to deliver the required actions.
Tenants
Tenants can apply for SFI without seeking their landlord’s consent (subject to the terms of their tenancy agreement). The tenant needs to be confident that they will have management control for the three-year term of the SFI agreement.
Tenants on short-term rolling tenancy agreements can enter SFI, provided they expect to have management control for three years. Defra has a more lenient penalty regime which means if land has to be removed in year two, due to issues outside of your control, it will not lead to penalties.
Common land and shared grazing
There will be pre-SFI26 agreements in place covering assessment of common land, but currently there is no access for common land or shared grazing in SFI26.
Agreement management
The length of the agreement will mirror the longest action included (usually 3 or 5 years). Some actions could be shorter than the length of the agreement, in particular some of the organic conversion actions. Agreements are managed online through the Rural Payments service, and there is a rolling application window. Agreements will start on 1st of the month. RPA support will be available for applicants who are not online.
Payments will be made quarterly, starting in the fourth month after your agreement starts. This will be for a quarter of the annual value of the agreement.
You will be required to complete an annual declaration confirming that you have completed the actions. This declaration will be needed to release the final quarterly payment for the year.
Once an agreement has started, it will not be possible to add new actions to that agreement. Removal of land or actions will not normally be allowed.
It is possible to have multiple SFI agreements on the same area of ground, provided the actions are compatible. This allows you to increase SFI actions over time.
It is not possible to transfer the agreement to another person. If you do need to end your agreement on an area of ground Defra may ask for repayments. There will be no penalties applied to the remainder of the agreement.
Crop rotations
Within SFI some actions can be rotated. For SFI26, it will not be possible to increase the area or value of a rotational action above the area you have in year one of your agreement. It will be possible to decrease the area.
The rules are different for existing SFI23 and SFI24 agreements. In the second and third years of your agreement you can enter a larger area than you entered into agreement for. Alternatively, you can decrease the area claimed, as long as it is at least 50% of the first year area. So, if your agreement has 10ha in year one for a rotational action, in year two that area could be 5ha and in year three it could be increased to 11ha.
Annual declarations
The annual declaration is how SFI agreement holders confirm that they have delivered against their agreement for that year. The final quarterly payment for an agreement years will be released after the declaration has been submitted.
Agreement holders are required to submit an annual declaration during the last two months of each relevant agreement year. The RPA will notify agreement holders when the submission period opens.
Before submitting an annual declaration, you should download a copy of the current year’s agreement.
Rotational declarations
The RPA requires you to tell it the location and area of your rotational actions for the second and third years of your SFI agreement. You need to do this even if you’re not making any changes to the location or area of these actions.
Your rotational actions declaration will be available in the RPA’s rural payments service once you’ve submitted your annual declaration.
For more information on annual declarations and rotational annual declarations for SFI23 and SFI24, visit: GOV.UK | Sustainable Farming Incentive: guidance for applicants and agreement holders.
Monitoring and compliance
Each SFI action has its own record keeping requirements.
Defra says it wants to use different methods to assess agreement delivery, including remote sensing. The scheme moves away from inspectors to field officers. If they find something is not as it should be they have a role of being more supportive and advising how to improve delivery. Defra will not withhold payments on suspicion of any breach.
Where a breach is found, Defra can seek repayments. However, in most cases, Defra will only apply a reclaim to the area of the breach and it could be a one-year repayment, rather than multiple years.
Consents inc: SSSIs and other legal requirements
It is your responsibility to make sure the relevant consents are in place. Therefore, if you have land you wish to include with an SSSI or a scheduled monument, you need to have consents from Natural England or Historic England respectively.
Some SFI actions cannot be carried out on land containing a SSSI, historic or archaeological features. An SFI HEFER (Historic Environment Farmed Environment Record) will be required for land to be included where there are historic or archaeological features. This is available online through a HEFER portal.
Where SSSI consent is required for moorland actions, (UPL1-10) or low input grassland (CLIG3), Natural England will ask for additional information, stocking information and how you will manage the land. It is advisable to talk to Natural England or an expert adviser prior to applying for consent.
Compatibility with other schemes
You can have different schemes on the same parcel of land provided you are not being paid for the same action twice (known as double funding).
The scheme rules set out which SFI action is compatible with Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship options and SFI pilot standards, allowing them to be co-located. The Rural Payments service application system will calculate the available area in each for SFI action, removing areas with incompatible options or actions.
Land attracting private finance, such as carbon or natural flood management payments, can be entered into SFI. Defra will keep this under review. Be aware, the private finance provider may prevent SFI being stacked on the same area as they are supporting.