After announcing the funding at NFU Conference, Defra has today published the detail on the payment rates, with the uplift applying to 157 HLS (Higher Level Stewardship) options.
The increase brings the payment rates closer to, but not in line with, CSHT (Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier) and SFI schemes. Some options remain unchanged where the HLS payment rates are already higher or if there is no equivalent option.
These changes will apply to HLS payments issued from 1 December 2025 until 30 June 2026.
“It is also essential that Defra now sets out a clear and accessible process for HLS agreement holders.”
NFU Deputy President David Exwood
There are 4,800 businesses with Environmental Stewardship agreements, many of which may affected by the uplift.
How each agreement holders’ payments are affected will depend on the options they have. Later in the year, when the RPA begins to make payments, it will confirm how much each option in their agreement will increase by.
Agreement holders will be able to use the tables published on GOV.UK to calculate how much this will be.
New rates fall short
Many HLS agreement holders will have been in environmental schemes for decades, especially upland farmers.
Farmers with HLS agreements entered into these agreements many years ago – the last HLS agreement started in 2014. Since then, the payment rates have not changed, yet farmers have seen their income from direct payments reduced.
NFU Deputy President David Exwood welcomed the news, but cautioned that payment rates still fall behind equivalent CSHT options.
He said: “We’re pleased that farmers in Higher Level Stewardship now have further detail of the payment uplift announced in February. This will hopefully provide our members with some much-needed certainty for the months ahead.
“The Rural Payments Agency will be issuing further guidance to agreement holders to clarify how the new rates apply to their agreements.
“However, as the majority of uplifted options remain lower than the equivalent Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, these changes fall short of helping the cashflow pressures many farm businesses are facing. It is also essential that Defra now sets out a clear and accessible process for HLS agreement holders, particularly those in the uplands, to transition into CSHT schemes as well as SFI.
Payment rate changes and comparison
The below table compares some of the most popular HLS option payment rates (old and new) to their equivalent option under CSHT.
| HLS code | HLS option | Old payment rate | New payment rate (1 Jan 2025) | Equivalent CSHT code | Equivalent CSHT option | Payment rate |
| HC12 | Maintenance of wood pasture and parkland | £180 ha | £192 | WD4 | Management of wood pasture and parkland | £212 ha |
| HD5 | Management of archaeological features on grassland | £16 ha | £29.42 | HS5 |
Management of historic and archaeological features on grassland |
£55 ha |
| HE10 | Floristically enhanced grass margin | £485 ha | £592.67 | AB8 | Flower-rich margins and plots | £798 ha |
| HE3 | 6m buffer strips on cultivated land | £400 ha | £439.56 | SW1 | 4-6m buffer strip on cultivated land | £515 ha |
| HF2 | Wild bird seed mixture | £450 ha | £588.63 | AB9 | Winter bird food | £853 ha |
| HR1 | Cattle grazing supplement | £35 ha | £43.26 | SP6 | Cattle grazing supplement | £59 ha |
| HO1 | Maintenance of lowland heath | £200 ha | £272.93 |
LH1 | Management of lowland heathland | £412 ha |
| HN8/9 | Educational access (base and per visit) | £500 per year +£100 per visit | No change | ED1 | Educational access | £363 per visit |
| HL9 | Maintenance of moorland | £40 ha | £45.16 | UP3 | Management of moorland | £55 ha |
| HL3 | Permanent grassland with very low inputs in SDAs |
£60 ha | £91.30 | GS5 | Permanent grassland with very low input in SDAs | £151 ha |
| HK6 | Maintenance of species rich, semi- natural grassland | £200 ha | £353.42 |
GS6 |
Management of species-rich grassland | £646 ha |
| HL16 | Shepherding supplement | £5 ha | £6.72 | SP5 | Shepherding supplement | £10 ha |
| HL15 | Seasonal livestock exclusion supplement | £10 ha | £13.10 | UP6 | Upland livestock exclusion supplement | £19 ha |
Transitioning to other schemes
There are a total of 200 options under HLS, with the new payment rates bringing 157 of these closer to equivalent scheme options.
On publishing the new payment rates, Farming Minister, Daniel Zeichner said: This £30 million uplift in HLS payments recognises their [farmers'] essential role in protecting our environment – work that’s crucial for long-term food security, boosting productivity, and tackling climate change.”
Currently, there is no formal process to transition between schemes such as HLS and CSHT to SFI. The NFU is lobbying the new government for arrangements to be put in place and guidance to be issued.
Defra intends to introduce an automatic process this year.
View the full table of new payment rates at: GOV.UK | Increase in payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship from 2025.
More information on how the payment rates have been calculated including how to calculate how this affects your agreement, can be found on: GOV.UK | Higher Level Stewardship: increased payment rates now available.
