On 30 June, Defra confirmed changes to SFI26 accessibility for some farmers when the second application window opens in September.
This change in accessibility for SFI26 was something the NFU had sought a solution on when the timelines for access to SFI26 were revealed. It became clear that those in existing agri environmental agreements ending soon after that of the SFI26 windows would miss out.
Who can apply early for SFI26 and how will it work?
Defra have explained that, unlike previous iterations of the scheme, a new functionality in the SFI26 application service has been developed to allow farmers with soon-to-expire ELM agreements to apply early for SFI26, before their existing agreements end.
This affects farmers with agreements expiring by the end of February 2027.
In the past, those farmers would have been unable to access the full SFI offer until their agreements had expired, forcing them to apply late to Window 2, by which point the window may have closed.
Defra have confirmed that the functionality will be available for Window 2 of SFI26 from September 2026 and applies to farmers with agreements expiring by the end of February 2027 under the following schemes:
- SFI23 agreements ending monthly from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027
- CSMT (Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier) agreements ending 31 December 2026
- Legacy CSHT (CS Higher Tier) agreements ending 31 December 2026
- Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements ending by 28 February 2027
Updated SFI26 guidance
On the 5 August change in accessibility for SFI26 has been incorporated into the SFI26: scheme rules and guidance - GOV.UK (se the a new section: 3.8).
What will the new functionality be able to do?
A farmer would usually have to wait until their existing ELM revenue agreement ends before applying for the full range of SFI26 actions on land in that existing agreement. This is because many SFI26 actions would be incompatible with an existing agreement and would result in a farmer being paid twice for the same activity, which is not allowed.
The new functionality in the SFI26 application service for farmers with eligible ELM revenue agreements that are ending soon will allow these farmers to:
- start an application early for SFI26 when Window 2 opens in September 2026
- apply for the full range of SFI26 actions on land in their expiring agreements (and any other eligible land where actions could be located)
- accept an SFI26 agreement offer, with the SFI26 agreement starting after their relevant eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement ends
Will the application process be any different if I take advantage of this new functionality and when will my new agreement start?
Defra confirm the SFI26 application process will remain the same for all eligible farmers in Window 2.
However, the new SFI26 Window 2 functionality will allow farmers with eligible expiring ELM revenue agreements to apply for SFI26 actions on land that would not normally be available. This is possible because the SFI26 agreement they are applying for will not start until after the relevant eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement ends.
The RPA will offer SFI26 agreements to farmers with eligible expiring ELM revenue agreements before their expiring agreement ends, wherever possible. However, the RPA cannot guarantee this.
Where the RPA offers an SFI26 agreement to these farmers before their expiring agreement ends, the functionality will allow those farmers to accept their SFI26 agreement offer. In this case, the SFI26 agreement start date will usually be the first day of the calendar month after the relevant eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement ends. This is to avoid incompatibility and double funding between the SFI26 actions applied for and what is in the eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement.
The SFI26 agreement start date may not be the first day of the calendar month after the relevant eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement ends if the RPA cannot offer an SFI26 agreement until after the relevant expiring agreement ends and/or the farmer does not accept their agreement offer before the relevant expiring agreement ends.
The RPA also states that if a farmer has multiple eligible expiring ELM revenue agreements, the SFI26 agreement will not start until after the agreement with the latest expiry date ends. This delayed start date approach applies even if the SFI26 application includes compatible SFI26 actions on land in their eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement or on other land not in their eligible expiring ELM revenue agreement.
Who can take advantage of this new functionality?
Only farmers who want to apply for SFI26 and have an eligible ELM revenue agreement ending on or before 28 February 2027 can apply before an existing agri environment agreement ends soon. ELM revenue agreements due to end on 1 March 2027 or later are ineligible for this new SFI26 Window 2 functionality (but could apply on any land that is eligible for SFI, which could include areas compatible with those March 2027 or later ending agreements). A farmer can only have one SFI26 agreement associated with their SBI.
Below, we set out some example situations of how farmers could use this new functionality:
- The farmer has a Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement expiring on 31 December 2026 – the farmer can apply for SFI26 when the application window opens in September, including the land covered by the expiring Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement. If successful, the SFI26 agreement will start after the Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement has expired.
- The farmer has an SFI23 agreement expiring on 28 February 2027. The farmer can apply for SFI26 when the window opens in September, including land in the expiring SFI23 agreement. If successful, the SFI26 agreement will start after the SFI23 agreement has expired. SFI26 agreements must start by 1 April 2027.
- The farmer has a Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement expiring on 31 December 2026 and an SFI23 agreement expiring on 31 January 2027. The farmer can apply for SFI26 when the window opens, including land in his expiring Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier and SFI23 agreements. If successful, his SFI26 agreement will start after the SFI23 agreement has expired.
- The farmer has Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement expiring on 31 December 2026 and an SFI24 agreement expiring in October 2027.
- The farmer can apply for SFI26 when the window opens including land in his expiring Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement, but not incompatible SFI24 action areas. If successful, his SFI26 agreement will start after the Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement has expired. The SFI24 agreement expiring later in 2027 does not prevent an SFI26 application or an SFI26 agreement starting. The farmer can have legacy agreements (SFI23/ SFI24, Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier / Higher Tier or Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements) continuing alongside a new SFI26 agreement.
- The farmer has Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement expiring on 31 December 2026 that agreement contains species rich grassland. The farmer can apply for SFI26 when the window opens. If successful, his SFI26 agreement will start after the Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement has expired. SFI26 does not support species rich grassland. Support for species rich grassland in available through a single focus CSHT agreement. If the farmer wants to continue to be supported for the species rich grassland, then they need to consider this and if interested submit an expression of interest to access this support.
- The farmer has an SFI23 agreement expiring on 30 March 2027. This is ineligible for the ‘start an application early ’ process and would need to wait for the SFI 2027 offer. The business may have other land they can apply for SFI26 on, or there may be SFI26 actions that are compatible with existing SFI23 actions. The NFU continues to seek clarity from Defra on when details on SFI27 will be known, including when could someone apply for it and if there would be any restrictions in terms of annual agreement value or number of agreements allowed per business.
What other things should I consider?
As with any new multiannual scheme such as SFI26 that a farmer may be considering applying for, understanding the scheme rules is important, even if currently in SFI. The 2026 version differs from previous versions. For SFI26 see: SFI – scheme guidance and information.
The SFI26 rules cover, for example, the list of current SFI26 actions and how they operate and interact and the general scheme rules.
In particular, given SFI is a land-based scheme, the ability to comply with the management control of the land for the three-year agreement term from the date it starts in the future.
It is important to consider what land may be included in the SFI26 application.
This could include land that is not currently in any agri-environmental scheme agreement, or land in an agreement that ends after 28 February 2027 (and where only compatible SFI26 Actions could be included in an SFI26 application to coexist with existing scheme actions or options).
Even a need to exclude current agreement scheme land that you do not want to include for a variety of reasons (it could be the case that a farmer does not have management control over it for a future SFI26 three-year agreement term).
For more information for preparing for SFI26 Window 2 read Get ready to apply for SFI26.
Looking ahead to options when a current agreement nears its end, and depending on land status, there is now a single-focus Countryside Stewardship Higher Agreement offer.
A new element of this scheme, currently accessible via an expression of interest, is a single-action focus agreement.
More details on this can be found here: Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier: express your interest, this follows on from this announcement: Rolling out Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
