Further detail on SFI26 was revealed at the NFU's Conference. The 2026 offer will have 71 actions, down from the 102 available under the SFI24 extended offer.
To address budgetary pressures, there will be an agreement cap of £100,000 per annum.
Two application windows will be running in 2026; the first will open in June for small farms, meaning those up to 50ha in size, and/or those without an existing ELM agreement. The second window will open in September for other farmers.
Applicants will be restricted to one SFI26 application per farm business.
Further information, including a full breakdown of the changes for the new offer, can be found on our dedicated NFU page at: SFI – scheme guidance and information.
You can also track the NFU’s ongoing lobbying work on SFI via our timeline.
Further information on all of the announcements made at NFU conference can be found at: NFU26: What did the Defra Secretary announce at NFU Conference?
Annual declaration: This declaration is your confirmation to the RPA that you have delivered against what was agreed during the agreement year coming to a close.
- Ensure you have the most recent copy of your agreement to hand to confirm the details of your annual declaration, especially if you have rotational actions which may have changed location since your first agreement year.
- Check the deadlines for when you need to submit.
- Managing multiple agreements: Where a business has multiple agreements in place, it will be important to ensure they are cross referenced with one another. Different schemes operate on different calendars; for example Countryside Stewardship operates on an annual calendar basis, January to December, while SFI does not for most agreements. In some cases, schemes can “overlap” with one another causing issues, particularly when dealing with rotational actions. It will be important to consult any other agreements that might be in place and ensure that these do not unintentionally create any blockers when dealing with scheme administration.
Rotational action declarations: This declaration confirms your intentions for the year ahead, establishing where rotational actions will be located for the forthcoming year.
- The first point to consider on the declaration is the location of the rotational actions.
- The second point is whether or not the area for that rotational action will increase or decrease as a result of the new location.
- Additionally, please refer to your SFI agreement to see what flexibilities are allowed for the increase or decrease in rotational actions for the coming year. Remember, there is a rule that states that at least 50% of the action area for year one continues in later years.
- Remember, these changes impact on the future total agreement value and quarterly payments.
Visit our SFI essential information page for all the key information on completing the annual and rotational declarations for SFI agreements.
3. ELMs capital grants
If you have a capital grants agreement, make sure you have submitted your claim forms for any completed works.
Information on the standalone ELMs capital grants offer has now been published.
- The application window will open in July 2026. The full list of items will be published in May alongside the guidance on how to apply ahead of the offer opening.
- The broad elements covered by this grant funding are organised into the following groups:
- Boundaries, trees and orchards.
- Water quality.
- Air quality.
- Natural flood management.
- Assessments.
- Improvements.
- In terms of funding limits, these continue to apply to four of the six groups in the offer: £25,000 for the water quality, air quality, and natural flood management groups, and £35,000 for the boundaries, trees and orchards group.
- As in 2025, you can submit only one application per SBI that you manage. Defra will manage the budget and update applicants on demand via its online blog when 25%, 50% and 75% of the funding is allocated.
- Defra has set out a series of useful actions to consider if you want to apply; further details will be published on our capital grants essential information page.
- Catchment Sensitive Farming support – there is a requirement to have endorsement from CSF (Catchment Sensitive Farming) on 24 items (please refer to the 2025 items for which ones they are) under this grant. CSF has said it is now prioritising advice and support visits that have already been requested to help prepare for the 2026 round. CSF area teams will not be able to prioritise any new requests for advisory visits for this round but will be able to offer advisory visits later this year. CSF will get in touch when it has capacity to help. In the meantime, a farmer can register for one of their free events at: farmingadviceservice.org.uk/events. CSF endorsement must be in place before the offer opens in July. If you have received CSF support in the past two years for these items, you can use this support when you apply in 2026 (though just check the dates on endorsement letters to make sure they are still valid).
4. Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
The 2025 offer for the FETF (Farming Equipment and Technology Fund) closes for most claimants at midday on 31 March, while the 2026 offer opened on 17 March and will close at midday on 28 April for applications. There will, therefore, be two versions of the FETF running during this time.
- The FETF 2025 offer closed for applications on 10 July 2025.
- Claims now need to be progressed and have to be submitted to the RPA by midday on 31 March 2026 in almost all cases.
- If you have any issues submitting a claim, contact the RPA.
See our FETF25 essential information page for more information.
Our new FETF26 essential information page has further detail on the new offer. You can also register for our webinar on 19 March which will summarise what you need to know before applying.
Stay up to date with the latest Farming Investment Fund opportunities if you are involved in any of these schemes. These include:
-
Laying hen housing for health and welfare grant – round 1: Deadline for full application: 28 April 2026 at 11:59pm.
- Slurry infrastructure grant – round 2: Check your agreement details and correspondence from the RPA about any slurry infrastructure grant agreements you have in place. This is because the original deadline was scrapped due to delays in processing the location and design assessments; those in the process will be issued individual timelines to submit full applications.
- Ongoing large productivity grants: Anyone who has applied for any of these grants, such as the improving farm productivity or water management grants, is advised to ensure they are able to submit their full applications or claims in good time. If, for any reason, there is likely to be a delay in submitting this information, then it is advisable to contact the RPA as soon as possible.
For more information on the grants available under the Farming Investment Fund, visit our essential information page.
- Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds confirmed that the FIP (Farming Innovation Programme) will received £70 million worth of funding towards future research projects.
- The ADOPT scheme is ongoing, and aims to promote on-farm trials of innovative technology and support members to adopt equipment they would otherwise be unable to, while also allowing for practical testing of novel solutions in a working farm environment.
Our FIP page has all the latest information and deadlines.
Round 6 of the ADOPT scheme is currently open for applications and will close on 8 April.
The next round of the ADOPT fund will open on 9 April. Visit our essential information page to stay up to date.
7. CS and ES claim window
2026 agreement holders will need to submit their agreement claims during this year's claim window which will run from 18 March.
- Agreement holders can submit their claims before 15 May to avoid any reductions; submissions after this date will incur a reduction.
- The claim window will stay open until 1 September, however, it is advisable to submit your claims as soon as possible to avoid any reductions. Countryside Stewardship agreement holders will be able to submit their claims online.
- If you have an extended agreement, which would have normally ended on 31 December 2025, you will be contacted about making a claim for the 2026 claim year, the sixth year.
Environmental Stewardship agreement holders will need to either send their claim form in the post, or respond to the email sent by the RPA. These should be sent to you after the window opens, with postal copies arriving a little later. If you are concerned speak to the RPA, especially if you have not received your forms by 6 April.
For more information, visit: Key information for agri-environment scheme agreement holders.
8. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier
The new CSHT (Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier) scheme continues to rollout with the application window now available for invited applicants.
- Those who received pre-application advice have now been invited to make a full application.
- The guidance for CSHT is available on GOV.UK. The first step for any invited applicant is to respond to the initial invite which will have come from the RPA. This is for pre-application advice and will begin the application process.
Visit our CHST essential information page for more information.
9. Animal health and welfare pathway reminder
The Animal Health and Welfare pathway remains open to farmers who would like to receive a funded vet visit and receive tailored advice and support from their vet until mid-2027.
- A new announcement was made outlining new support for poultry keepers. These visits will be for biosecurity advisory reviews. Further details are expected later this summer.
- The pathway has seen a number of developments and is now available for farmers with multiple species and multiple distinct flocks/herds of the same species within the same business. The initial animal health and welfare visit has been expanded to include a follow-up visit focusing on endemic diseases for cattle, sheep or pigs.
- Further information, including payment rates and eligibility criteria, can be found on our essential information page.
- For 2026, the delinked payment reference amount is expected to be reduced by 98% for the first £30,000 and 100% for any reference amount above this level. This means the maximum amount a farmer will receive is £600. This, and future year payments, will be issued as a single instalment from 1 August.
Visit our delinked payments essential information page to stay up to date.
11. Farming in Protected Landscapes
The FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes) programme continues to fund projects that:
- Support nature recovery.
- Mitigate against the impacts of climate change.
- Provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage.
- Protect or improving the quality and character of the landscape or place.
This scheme was originally scheduled to expire in March 2026, however the government has committed to extend the scheme for a further three years.
It will now run until March 2029, or until all the available funding is allocated.
Read our FiPL essential information page to stay up to date.
12. What to do if you're unhappy with an RPA decision
- Sometimes things do not go to plan when dealing with the RPA, whether it is a mistake, system error or a misunderstanding. The impact on members and their businesses can be significant, not only from a financial standpoint, but also from a mental health perspective as well.
- Submitting a complaint to the RPA is divided into two distinct categories which have different processes depending on whether they relate to a decision made by the RPA, or whether it relates to poor quality customer service.
- The NFU has guidance available on how to prepare an initial query, as well as further information on who to contact if you wish to raise a customer service complaint as well.
- The RPA has recently updated its complaints guidance for grant funding schemes; a new form is now available to capture the details for queries across a wide range of schemes, with a new centralised inbox to address these. Further information can be found on our dedicated guidance page.
Read our explainer on the RPA complaints and appeals process.