Information Correct as of 25th February
DEFRA have finally provided a long awaited update on the next phase of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme. The secretary of state for DEFRA stood up at the NFU conference on 24th February 2026 and presented some of the details, which was then followed up by a Farming Blog, which is viewable here: The Farming Blog – Updates from Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme
In order to make the new SFI scheme funding last longer and be available more widely, they are planning to make the following changes to the scheme:
- Capping agreement value at £100,000
- Only allowing one SFI 2026 agreement per SBI
- Not allowing rotational actions to be increased beyond the original applied amount
- Removal of the SFI Management Payment
- Adding Enhanced Overwinter Stubbles (AHW7) to the 25% farm area limit. There are still ten actions in this group, with Bumblebird mix (AHW1) having been removed.
The scheme will also be applying a minimum farm size of 3 hectares to be eligible for SFI 2026.
Applications for SFI 2026 will be available from June 2026. There will be two windows for applications:
Window 1:
Open June to August 2026
Available to farms up to 50 hectares OR farms without any existing ES / CS / SFI schemes
Window 2:
Open from September 2026, until funding is exhausted
Scheme Actions Changes:
There will be some fairly significant changes to the range of actions available in SFI 2026, including the removal of 31 actions. This includes all of the various plan payments that existing in both SFI23 and SFI24, on the basis that they were low value for public money. We would however argue they were useful to the farm business:
- Soil testing and management plan (CSAM1)
- Hedgerow assessment (HRW1)
- Nutrient management plan (CNUM1)
- Integrated pest management plan (CIPM1)
Other significant changes include the removal of the species rich grassland action, actions for low density native species grazing, and some of the historic management actions. The payment rates for Herbal Leys (CSAM3), Winter Bird Food (CAHL2), and Legume Fallows (CNUM3) have been reduced. All other action rates remain the same.
The rest of the changes include the removal of pond, woodland, and in-field tree buffers; maintenance of hedgerow trees; winter cover following maize; bumblebird mix; and some organic actions. All of these are ones which are duplicating other actions, and where the other actions could be used instead.
The remaining change to be aware of is that base actions and supplementary actions will only be available to be applied for together in the same application. We assume this means you won’t be able to apply solely for supplementary actions on existing base actions in other agreements.
There were some changes in the upland and moorland actions, but I haven’t reviewed these in this blog, due to Norfolk not having any land higher than 105m above sea level!
Schemes also confirmed by DEFRA, include:
- Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) opens 17th March for 6 weeks, for the last time
- Farming Innovation Programme (including ADOPT fund) opens 9th April
- ELM Capital Grants scheme opens July 2026, until funding exhausted
What next
With these changes having now been announced, we can begin to help you prepare for the opening of the application windows later in the year. If you have an existing stewardship agreement or SFI that expires this year, and will need a replacement, it would be a good idea to have a conversation with our expert team to decide what your next scheme will look like.