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GrantEngland

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26)

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) / Rural Payments Agency

Description

England's flagship Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme and the main successor to the old EU Basic Payment Scheme, paying farmers annually for actions that support sustainable food production and environmental outcomes — soil health, hedgerows, integrated pest management, low-input grassland, and more. The 2026 offer (SFI26) reopened with 71 of the previous 102 actions available (some rates cut, e.g. Herbal Leys CSAM3 from £382/ha to £224/ha; some upland rates increased, e.g. Moderate Livestock Grazing on Moorland UPL1 from £20/ha to £35/ha), a maximum agreement value of £100,000 per business per year, one SFI26 agreement per farm business (SBI), and no more 5-year actions or a flat management payment. Window 1 opened 30 June 2026 for smaller farms (7.4-124 acres) and those without an existing ELM agreement; window 2 opens in September 2026 for all other eligible farms.

Amount

Payments per action (e.g. £224-£648/ha for common actions such as herbal leys and winter bird food), capped at £100,000 total per agreement per year

Deadline

Rolling / no fixed deadline

Eligibility summary

  • Available in: England.
  • Applicant must be a registered business.
  • Most relevant to: Agriculture & Fisheries.
Notes
Replaces the earlier SFI 2023/2024 offers going forward — farmers with an SFI23 or Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier agreement expiring soon can apply for that land under SFI26 from window 2 via the 'starting an application early' route. Use the 'Find funding for land or farms' tool to see which of the 71 available actions apply to a specific holding. Re-verified Aug 2026: 71-of-102-action count, the £100,000 per-agreement cap, and the September 2026 window 2 opening for all eligible farms are all confirmed unchanged; any unallocated window 1 budget rolls into window 2 rather than being lost.
Requirement
Farmer or land manager in England managing eligible agricultural land, applying for one or more SFI26 actions; window 1 (already open) is restricted to farms of 7.4-124 acres or those without an existing ELM revenue agreement, window 2 (from September 2026) opens to all farms over 7.4 acres.

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How to apply

Use the 'Find funding for land or farms' tool (gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms) to identify eligible actions, then apply via the Rural Payments service. Window 1 is open now for smaller/new-to-ELM farms; window 2 opens September 2026 for everyone else.

View official source

Last verified: 23 August 2026. See the footer disclaimer — this is general information, not financial or tax advice.