SFI Update - As DEFRA Releases The Headline Details
Defra has now released the headline details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 for England following announcements yesterday at the NFU conference. The revised offer opening this summer shows some significant changes, a more streamlined structure, revised payment rates and a £100,000 payment cap on agreements designed to ensure support of funding is distributed more effectively across farm businesses.
In January we heard Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds highlight that there would be fewer, more targeted offers available. This is on the back of understanding that 90% of SFI spending went on fewer than 40 of the 102 available actions. We now know there will be:
A reduction in the available actions (71 in total), some of the removed actions include AHW1 (Bumblebird Mix), SOH2 (Multi-Species Spring Sown Cover Crop), SOH4 (Winter Cover following Maize) and CIMP1 (Assess Nutrient Management and Produce a Review Report). Most of the removed actions had very low uptake and have alternatives available.
An annual payment cap of £100,000 on agreements.
One SFI26 agreement per farm business.
5-year agreements will now become 3-year agreements
Adjusted payment rates, increases seen for Moorland actions to reflect the current livestock market, but decreases for some of the higher demand actions (increases will apply to existing SFI agreements, but reductions will not be put in place for SFI23 or SFI24)
- CSAM3: Herbal Leys from £382/ha to £224/ha
- CNUM3: Legume Fallow from £593/ha to £532/ha
- CAHL2: Winter Bird Food from £853/ha to £648/ha
Application Windows
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June 2026: Window 1 will open for small farms (those with under 50ha of agricultural land) and those without an existing Environmental Land Management (ELM) revenue agreement.
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September 2026: Window 2 opens for all farms.
It is worth noting that Window 1 is expected to stay open for two months, but this is dependent on uptake and available funding.
Although we are still waiting for confirmation on the detailed rules and guidance for SFI26 moving forwards, the news from yesterdays conference gives farmers the chance to start planning for June and September application windows.
We will continue to support our customers with relevant information and support once official guidance is released.
