The Government Says

SFI26: details, definitions and what to expect

In this post, we explain what to expect from the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer in 2026.

We also share the list of the 71 actions available in the new offer, with payment rates.

What to expect from SFI26

The overall ambition for SFI remains the same: to support farmers to manage their land in ways that deliver environmental benefits as they produce food.

We’ve worked closely with stakeholders to shape the policy design of this year’s offer.

Last year, we held workshops and forums with over 30 stakeholder organisations to discuss policy issues and the overall design principles for SFI. We used the insight from these discussions to develop options and proposals for the 2026 offer.

In early 2026, we ran another series of workshops and forums to test those options and talk through the considerations in more detail. We then used stakeholders’ feedback to refine and strengthen the policy detail within the scheme.

The SFI26 offer will be simpler, with fewer actions and less complexity while still having plenty of actions available for all farm types, so you can pick the actions that best fit your farm.

The new offer includes 71 actions, down from 102 in the SFI24 offer. In practice, this means 31 actions have been removed (around one‑third of the previous offer).

We have focused on removing actions with low uptake or those that delivered less for food production, the environment, or our wider environmental targets.

Fairness and access will improve. By reducing some payment rates, introducing an area cap for the enhanced overwinter stubble action, and applying a new annual agreement cap of £100,000, we can ensure that more farms are able to participate and benefit. These changes will also help us meet the Environmental Improvement Plan goal of doubling the number of farms delivering for wildlife.

The list of actions is at the end of this post, and we will publish the full scheme guidance and the budget for the first window before it opens.

We will provide clear updates as funding is committed in each window.

The core design of SFI will provide a stable framework for the rest of this Parliament, though we expect to make refinements and improvements where we can.

Scheme updates Application windows and eligibility

To be eligible for SFI26 (for both Windows 1 and 2) farmers should have at least 3 hectares (ha) of agricultural land.

We set this threshold following discussions with the sector and to reflect the recommendation made by Baroness Batters in her recent Farming Profitability Review.

Window 1

Window 1 will open in June 2026 and will remain open for around 2 months – although it may close sooner if demand is high and the Window 1 budget is fully allocated. It will be open to both small farms and also farms without an existing environmental land management (ELM) revenue agreement.

Definitions

Small farm: a farm with up to 50 hectares (ha) of agricultural land.

Farm without an existing ELM revenue agreement: a farm that does not have an RPA-administered ELM revenue agreement. This includes farms with revenue agreements under previous versions of SFI, Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier (CSMT), old and new versions of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT), and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS). It does not include non-RPA schemes, such as private sector schemes or Landscape Recovery.

Window 2

Window 2 will open in September 2026 for all farms.

We cannot set a fixed end-date at this point, because this will depend on how many farmers apply.

Limits

For SFI26 agreements, caps will be placed on:

How much an agreement can be worth. This is so funding can be shared across more farms. This will be a single cap under which no SFI26 agreement can be worth more than £100,000 per year. How many agreements a farm business can have. Each farm business can have only one SFI26 agreement. This rule, together with the agreement value cap, will help ensure that we can afford to offer agreements to more farmers. Rotational actions. Agreement holders will not be able to increase the area or value of rotational actions beyond what they included in Year 1. Farmers will still be able to move rotational actions between fields to match their crop rotation. They will also be able to increase or reduce the area from year to year, if they do not go above the Year 1 level. For example, they could do 10 hectares in Year 1, 5 hectares in Year 2, and 10 hectares in Year 3, but they could not go above 10 hectares. How much land can be put into AHW7: Enhanced overwinter stubble. This action will be added to the existing 25% area limit cap, which covers 10 actions. These actions cannot be done (individually or in combination) on more than 25% of the total agricultural area of the farm. This is to prevent too much land being taken out of production. Payment Rates

Some payment rates have been adjusted. The revised payment rates still follow the established approach used across SFI, based on ‘income foregone plus costs’.

We will no longer offer the SFI management payment. It was intended as a time-limited payment to support farmers transitioning into the new scheme. This measure will release more funding so we can offer more agreements.

Rate increases

We're increasing payments for some moorland actions, namely 3 livestock grazing rates and 2 shepherding livestock rates.

UPL1: Moderate livestock grazing on moorland – £35/ha (increased from £20/ha) UPL2: Low livestock grazing on moorland – £89/ha (increased from £53/ha) UPL3: Limited livestock grazing on moorland – £111/ha (increased from £66/ha) UPL8: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 4 months) – £74/ha (increased from £43/ha) UPL10: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 8 months) – £102/ha (increased from £48/ha)

We will apply the uplift to existing SFI agreements and SFI26 agreements. This is to ensure upland farmers are properly compensated given recent changes in livestock prices.

Rate reductions

We will reduce payment rates for:

CSAM3: Herbal leys from £382/ha to £224/ha CAHL2: Winter bird food from £853/ha to £648/ha CNUM3: Legume fallow from £593/ha to £532/ha

Reductions are being made because initial payment rates for these actions were set too high. This made it too attractive to take highly productive land out of food production. We're recalibrating them to reflect current margins and to support, not undermine, food production.

This will help us to spread funding more widely, so more farmers can access agreements. They are also intended to help keep more land in production.

The reductions won’t be retroactive. They will only apply to SFI26 agreements. Existing SFI23 and SFI24 agreements which contain these actions will not be affected.

Turning 5-year actions into 3-year actions

Actions with a 5-year duration will become 3-year actions in SFI26. This change is designed to simplify the scheme and make these actions more accessible for short-term tenant farmers.

Base and supplemental actions

Farmers applying for the SFI26 offer will only be able to apply for a base action and its supplemental action together, in the same agreement, at the same time.

Supplemental actions can only be done alongside a base SFI action because they are designed to add to the base action and do not work on their own. Keeping them on the same timescales will improve value for money and help deliver better environmental outcomes.

The SFI26 offer

The tables below set out the 71 actions in the SFI26 offer, alongside the actions from SFI24 that will not be included.

We've grouped the actions by theme.

We’ve designed the SFI26 offer to be simpler, while still giving farmers plenty of choice and supporting sustainable food production.

We’ve prioritised actions that offer strong value for money and contribute to the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan targets for water quality and biodiversity. This includes the ambition to double the number of farms providing year-round resources for farm wildlife by December 2030 (compared with 2025).

Number of SFI26 actions by theme

 Theme

Number of SFI26 actions

Number of SFI24 actions removed from SFI26 offer

Agroforestry

Boundary features

Buffer strip

Farmland wildlife (arable/horticulture)

Farmland wildlife (grass)

Heritage

Integrated pest management (IPM)

Moorland

Nutrient management

Organic

Precision farming

Species recovery/ management

Soil health

Waterbodies

Total

Actions and payment rates by theme Table 1: Agroforestry

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

AGF1

Maintain very low density (30-50 trees/ha) in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land

£248/ha

Included

AGF2

Maintain low density (51-130 trees/ha) in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land

£385/ha

Reason for inclusion: AGF1 and AGF2 were first introduced in SFI24. Currently they have low/moderate uptake, but we expect this to increase over time. They have potential to make a moderate/high contribution to our environmental targets.

Table 2: Boundary features

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

CHRW2

Manage hedgerows 

£13/100 m

(one side)

Included

BND1

Maintain dry stone walls

£27/100m

(both sides)

Included

BND2

Maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedgebanks

£11/100m

(both sides)

Removed

CHRW1

Assess and record hedgerow condition

£5/100m

(one side)

Removed

CHRW3

Maintain or establish hedgerow trees

£10/100m

(both sides)

Reason for including: CHRW2 has very high uptake and makes a moderate/high contribution to biodiversity targets. It provides an important habitat corridor across farmland for birds, mammals, butterflies and bees.

BND1 and BND2 have moderate uptake and form part of the SFI26 offer for upland farmers, and lowland farmers, for example in Devon and Cornwall. These actions are also part of our commitment to the historic environment.

Reason for removing: CHRW1 has very high uptake, but it is being removed because it does not deliver direct environmental benefits and therefore gives very low value for money. CHRW3 also has very high uptake and low value for money. The removal of CHRW3 means we will no longer pay specifically for the maintenance of existing hedgerow trees (which gives limited additional environmental benefit because most farmers maintain these trees anyway). However, farmers will still be able to manage hedgerows through CHRW2, which is being retained. There are capital grants (BN11 and TE1) which pay for the creation of new hedgerows, and the planting of new hedgerow trees.

Table 3: Buffer strips

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

CAHL4

4m-12m grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural land 

£515/ha

Included

CIGL3

4m to 12m grass buffer strip on improved grassland

£235/ha

Included

BFS1

12m-24m watercourse buffer strips on cultivated land

£707/ha

Included

BFS6

6m to 12m habitat strip next to watercourses

£742/ha

Removed

BFS2

Buffer in-field ponds on arable land

£681/ha

Removed

BFS3

Buffer in-field ponds on improved grassland

£311/ha

Removed

BFS4

Protect in-field trees on arable land

£553/ha

Removed

BFS5

Protect in-field trees on intensive grassland

£295/ha

Reason for including: CAHL4 has high uptake and the other 3 buffer strip actions have moderate uptake. All 4 actions deliver high-very high value for money and make a moderate/high contribution to our environmental targets.

Reason for removing: All of these actions had low or very low uptake and alternative actions will remain in the SFI26 offer which can be used to deliver similar aims. For example, BFS1: 12m-24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land can be used to buffer ponds and CAHL3: Grassy field corners or blocks can be used to protect in-field trees.

Table 4: Farmland wildlife (arable/horticultural land)

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

AHW2

Supplementary winter bird food

£732/t (max 1t per 2ha CAHL2)

Included

AHW3

Beetle banks

£764/ha

Included

AHW4

Skylark plots

£11/plot (min 2 plots/ha)

Included

AHW5

Nesting plots for lapwing

£765/ha

Included

AHW6

Basic overwinter stubble

£58/ha

Included

AHW7

Enhanced overwinter stubble

£589/ha

Included

AHW8

Whole crop spring cereals and overwinter stubble

£596/ha

Included

AHW9

Unharvested cereal headland

£1,072/ha

Included

AHW10

Low input harvested cereal crop

£354/ha

Included

AHW11

Cultivated areas for arable plants

£660/ha

Included

CAHL1

Pollen and nectar flower mix

£739/ha

Included

CAHL2

Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land

£648/ha (reduced from £853/ha)*

Included

CAHL3

Grassy field corners or blocks

£590/ha

Removed

AHW1

Bumblebird mix

£747/ha

Removed

AHW12

Manage woodland edges on arable land

£428/ha

* Decreased payment rate will apply to new SFI26 agreements only

Reason for including: Most of these actions have moderate to high uptake and deliver moderate to high value for money. Some (for example, AHW3: Beetle banks and AHW4: Skylark plots) are niche actions with low uptake but deliver high to very high value for money. Overall, this package of farmland wildlife actions makes a strong contribution to our environmental targets.

Reason for removing: AHW1 and AHW12 have low uptake and alternative actions will remain in the SFI26 offer which deliver similar aims (for example, CAHL1: Pollen and nectar mix, CAHL2: Winter bird food, and CAHL3: Field corners and blocks).

Table 5: Farmland wildlife (grassland)

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

GRH1

Manage rough grazing for birds

£121/ha

Included

GRH7

Haymaking supplement

£157/ha

Included

GRH8

Haymaking supplement (late cut)

£187/ha

Included

GRH10

Lenient grazing supplement

£28/ha

Included

CLIG3

Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs

£151/ha

Included

CIGL1

Take grassland field corners or blocks out of management

£333/ha

Included

CIGL2

Winter bird food on improved grassland

£515/ha

Included

SCR1

Create scrub and open habitat mosaics

£588/ha

Included

SCR2

Manage scrub and open habitat mosaics

£350/ha

Removed

GRH6

Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland (endorsed)

£646/ha

Removed

GRH11

Cattle grazing supplement (non-moorland)

£59/ha

Reason for including: Like the arable farmland wildlife package, most of these grassland actions have moderate to high uptake and deliver moderate to high value for money. Some (for example, GRH1: Manage rough grazing for birds) currently have low uptake but deliver high to very high value for money. They also support important grassland habitat for birds in the uplands. Overall, this package of farmland wildlife actions makes a strong contribution to our environmental targets.

Reason for removing: GRH6 had moderate uptake. It was the only endorsed action in the SFI24 offer. It’s being removed as part of the simplification of SFI26 as it required bespoke Natural England adviser endorsement. An equivalent of GRH6 is in the CS Higher Tier offer.

GRH11 is a supplemental action with moderate uptake. It makes little contribution to our water and biodiversity targets. Also, it is more suited to CS Higher Tier (which includes an equivalent action) where advice can be given on the suitability of sites and management can be tailored to suit the sites.

Table 6: Heritage

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

HEF1

Maintain weatherproof traditional farm or forestry buildings

£5/sq m

Included

HEF6

Manage historic and archaeological features on grassland

£55/ha

Removed

HEF2

Maintain weatherproof traditional farm or forestry buildings in remote areas

£8/sq m

Removed

HEF5

Control scrub on historic and archaeological features

£215/ha

Removed

HEF8

Maintain designed or engineered waterbodies

£2,512/ha

Reason for including: While these actions make a smaller direct contribution to our environmental targets, we’re keeping them to recognise and support the historic rural environment.

Reason for removing: HEF2 has very low uptake, gives little or no contribution to our water quality or biodiversity targets. Also, we’re retaining the more popular alternative action (HEF1).

HEF5 has very low uptake. Also, it is more suited to CS Higher Tier (which includes an equivalent action) where advice can be given on the suitability of sites and management can be tailored to suit the sites.

HEF8 has low uptake and makes little to no contribution to our environmental targets. Also, there are alternative SFI actions which partially deliver the same aims (for example, buffer strip actions).

Table 7: Integrated pest management

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

CIPM2

Flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips

£798/ha

Included

CIPM3

Companion crop on arable and horticultural land

£55/ha

Included

CIPM4

No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops

£45/ha

Removed

CIPM1

Assess integrated pest management and produce a plan

£1,129/ assessment & plan

Reason for including: These 3 actions all have high or very high uptake and contribute to our environmental targets. CIPM2 and CIPM3 both have very high value for money, with CIPM4 having moderate value for money. CIPM2 creates habitats for pollinators. CIPM3 and CIPM4 both support sustainable crop production.

Reason for removing: CIPM1 has very high uptake, but (like other planning actions) it does not deliver direct environment benefits and therefore delivers poor value for money.

Table 8: Moorland

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

UPL1

Moderate livestock grazing on moorland

£35/ha (increased from £20/ha)*

Included

UPL2

Low livestock grazing on moorland

£89/ha (increased from £53/ha)*

Included

UPL3

Limited livestock grazing on moorland

£111/ha (increased from £66/ha)*

Included

UPL5

Keep cattle and ponies on moorland supplement (min. 70% GLU)

£18/ha

Included

UPL6

Keep cattle and ponies on moorland supplement (min. 100% GLU)

£23/ha

Included

UPL8

Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 4 months)

£74/ha (increased from £43/ha)*

Included

UPL10

Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 8 months)

£102/ha (increased from £48/ha)*

Removed

UPL9

Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 6 months)

£45/ha

Removed

CMOR1

Assess moorland and produce a written record

£10.60/ha

Removed

UPL4

Keep cattle and ponies on moorland supplement (minimum 30% GLU)

£7/ha

Removed

UPL7

Shepherding livestock on moorland (no required stock removal period)

£33/ha

* Increased payment rates will apply to existing SFI and new SFI26 agreements

Reason for including: We are keeping 8 moorland actions, all of which are actions first introduced in SFI24. Whilst uptake for these actions is either low or very low, many moorlands are still in legacy agri-environment agreements, which limits their access to similar actions in SFI.

UPL1-3 indirectly contribute to our water quality and biodiversity targets. They work alongside farming by grazing moorland with a moderate/low/limited number of livestock, which also helps to maintain moorland habitats for wildlife and insects. UPL5 and UPL6 support grazing moorlands with cattle (and ponies) instead of sheep. Doing this contributes positively to biodiversity. UPL8 and UPL10 have an indirect contribution to our water quality and biodiversity targets by managing livestock to avoid areas which are sensitive to damage from grazing. This also helps to improve moorland habitats for wildlife and insects.

Reason for removing: CMOR1 has moderate uptake but (as with other planning actions) it does not deliver direct environmental benefits and therefore is likely to deliver poor value for money. UPL4, UPL7 and UPL9 have low uptake and alternative actions exist in the 8 moorland actions we are keeping.

Table 9: Nutrient management

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

CNUM2

Legumes on improved grassland

£102/ha

Included

CNUM3

Legume fallow

£532/ha (reduced from £593/ha)*

Removed

CNUM1

Assess nutrient management and produce a review report

£652/ha

*Decreased payment rate will apply to new SFI26 agreements only.

Reason for including: CNUM2 and CNUM3 have high uptake and deliver very high and medium value for money respectively. Both actions contribute strongly to our water quality and biodiversity targets and support food production by helping improve soil health.

Reason for removing: CNUM1 has very high uptake but (as with other planning actions) does not deliver direct environmental benefits and therefore delivers poor value for money.

Table 10: Organic

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

OFC1

Organic conversion - improved permanent grassland

£187/ha

Included

OFC2

Organic conversion - unimproved permanent grassland

£96/ha

Included

OFC3

Organic conversion - rotational land

£298/ha

Included

OFC4

Organic conversion – horticultural land

£874/ha

Included

OFC5

Organic conversion - top fruit

£1,920/ha

Included

OFM1

Organic land management - improved permanent grassland

£20/ha

Included

OFM2

Organic land management - unimproved permanent grassland

£41/ha

Included

OFM3

Organic land management - enclosed rough grazing

£97/ha

Included

OFM4

Organic land management - rotational land

£132/ha

Included

OFM5

Organic land management - horticultural land

£707/ha

Included

OFM6

Organic land management - top fruit

£1,920/ha

Removed

OFA1

Overwinter stubble (organic land)

£264/ha

Removed

OFA3

Supplementary winter bird food (organic land)

£935/t (max 1t per 2ha CAHL2)

Removed

OFA6

Undersown cereal crop (organic land)

£380/ha

Reason for including: We are keeping 11 specialist organic actions, even though currently they have relatively low uptake. This includes 5 organic conversion actions to support farmers in the process of conversion, and 6 organic management actions. Organic farmers can also apply for conventional SFI actions.

Reason for removing: We are removing OFA1, OFA3 and OFA6 because they have very low uptake, and alternatives are available (AHW6: Basic overwinter stubble, AHW2: Supplementary winter bird food, and CIPM3: Companion crops).

Table 11: Precision farming

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

PRF1

Variable rate application of nutrients

£27/ha

Included

PRF2

Camera or remote sensor guided herbicide spraying

£43/ha

Included

PRF4

Mechanical robotic weeding

£150/ha

Removed

PRF3

Non-mechanical robotic weeding

£101/ha

Reason for including: We are keeping 3 precision farming actions, all of which were introduced in SFI24. PRF1 has high uptake and very high value for money. It makes a moderate/high contribution to our water quality target and supports food production by helping improve nutrient use efficiency. PRF2 and PRF4 currently have low uptake but are being kept in the offer because they have potential to deliver for the environment and support food production (for example, by improving soil health and reducing use of herbicides).

Reason for removing: PRF3 is being removed because it has very low uptake. Very few contractors and farmers have the necessary equipment to do this action.

Table 12: Soil health

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

CSAM2

Multi-species winter cover crop

£129/ha

Included

CSAM3

Herbal leys 

£224/ha (reduced from £382/ha)*

Included

SOH1

No-till farming

£73/ha

Included

SOH3

Multi-species summer-sown cover crop

£163/ha

Removed

SOH4

Winter cover following maize crops

£203/ha

Removed

CSAM1

Assess soil, test soil organic matter and produce a soil management plan

£6/ha

Removed

SOH2

Multi-species spring-sown cover crop

£163/ha

* Decreased payment rate will apply to new SFI26 agreements only

Reason for including: CSAM2 and CSAM3 have very high uptake, while SOH1 and SOH3 have moderate uptake. All 4 actions deliver high to very high value for money. They make a moderate/high contribution to our environmental targets. Also, they all support food production by helping improve soil health.

Reason for removing: CSAM1 has very high uptake but (as with other planning actions) does not deliver direct environmental benefits and therefore delivers poor value for money. SOH2 and SOH4 have low/moderate uptake. Also, alternative actions are available that deliver similar benefits (for example, SOH3: Multi-species summer sown cover crop, CIPM3: Companion crop, and CSAM2: Winter cover crop).

Table 13: Species recovery and management

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

SPM3

Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (more than 80%)

£146/ha

Included

SPM5

Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (more than 80%)

£11/ha

Removed

SPM2

Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (50-80%)

£92/ha

Removed

SPM4

Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (50-80%)

£7/ha

Reason for including: These 2 native breeds actions have low/moderate uptake and do not contribute directly to our water quality or biodiversity targets. However, we are keeping these actions to help show the government’s commitment to supporting the preservation of native breeds.

Reason for removing: SPM2 and SPM4 have low uptake and do not help us move towards our water quality or biodiversity targets. Also, we are keeping the 2 alternative versions of these native breeds actions.

Table 14: Waterbodies

Included/removed

Action code

SFI action

Annual payment

Included

WBD1

Manage ponds

£257/pond

(max 3 ponds/ ha)

Included

WBD2

Manage ditches

£4/100m

(both sides)

Included

WBD3

In-field grass strips

£765/ha

Included

WBD4

Arable reversion to grassland with low fertiliser input

£489/ha

Included

WBD6

Remove livestock from intensive grassland during the autumn and winter (outside SDAs)

£115/ha

Included

WBD7

Remove livestock from grassland during the autumn and winter (SDAs)

£115/ha

Removed

WBD5

Manage intensive grassland adjacent to a watercourse

£311/ha

Removed

WBD8

Manage grassland to reduce nutrient levels in groundwater

£396/ha

Removed

WBD9

Nil fertiliser supplement

£156/ha

Reason for including: We are keeping these 6 actions because most of them deliver high value for money and make a vital contribution to our water quality and biodiversity targets.

Reason for removing: WBD5, WBD8 and WBD9 are being removed as part of the simplification of the SFI offer. All have low uptake.

Stay up to date

To follow progress on all this work, subscribe to the Farming Blog. We will keep you informed as details are confirmed and as new opportunities and guidance become available. There is more to do, and we will continue to share updates openly as we move forward.

Do bookmark the Funding for Farmers, growers and land managers page on GOV.UK. It lists grants and other funding to increase productivity, manage land to benefit the environment and support agricultural businesses.

https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/24/sfi26-details-definitions-and-what-to-expect/

seen at 18:43, 24 February in The Farming Blog.

TGS