SFI26 will soon open to applications from all farm businesses registered with the RPA, with a Single Business Identifier (SBI) number and at least 3ha of land.
Back in June, we published a blog detailing some of the changes to expect for SFI26. This blog focuses on what is new for the September application window, plus recent changes to scheme rules which have been introduced to help farmers cope with the extreme hot and dry weather affecting many parts of the country.
The NFFN has continued to feed into the development of the SFI package, ensuring that the views and experiences of our members are heard at senior levels as Defra continues to develop and refine the ELM schemes.
What do we know?
Window 1, also referred to as the June SFI26 application window, will close no later than the 28 August 11:59pm. If you were eligible to apply during the June application window but did not get around to applying, you will still be able to apply during Window 2 - the SFI26 September window.
As we understand it, and similar to the June window, Defra will conduct a controlled roll-out application process for the September window, starting with limited beta test applications in mid-September, with the September window fully open to applications from the end of September. The closure of the window will occur either when all the budget is allocated or in March 2027.
In a Defra announcement on 15 August, there will now be an extra £50M added to the SFI26 Window 2 budget to allow more farmers to enter the scheme. The updated budget for the September window will be £230M. The aim of the increased budget is to allow more farmers to access funding for nature-friendly actions which should help to improve farm drought resilience, such as; increasing soil organic matter levels, introducing cover crops and reducing soil movement.
So what’s changed since June for SFI26?
As mentioned above, this application window is open to all farming businesses, as long as you are:
Registered with the RPA and have a Single Business Identifier (SBI) number,
Farm at least 3ha of land.
For full details of the eligibility criteria please consult the SFI26: scheme rules and guidance document. This is regularly updated by Defra to reflect any scheme changes and will provide you with the most accurate and up to date information.
The key announcement since Window 1 went live is that Defra have improved the SFI application system to allow farmers with agri-environment scheme agreements expiring after Window 2 to apply via a ‘Start an application early’ (SAE) system. These will be open to those with agri-environment scheme agreements which expire on or before 28 February 2027.
Eligible expiring agri-environment schemes include:
SFI 23 with agreements expiring between 30 Sept 2026-28 Feb 2027
CS Mid Tier agreements expiring 31 Dec 2026
Legacy CS Higher Tier agreements expiring 31 Dec 2026
Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements expiring by 28 Feb 2027
It is therefore crucial that those of you with eligible expiring agreements do not wait to apply until your agreement expires and instead apply as normal once the September window opens. The application process should look identical to how it normally would if you were applying without starting an early application.
It should be noted however that if you have multiple expiring agreements, your new SFI26 agreement will not start until the agreement with the latest expiry date ends. So if your SFI23 agreement expired on the 30 Sept 2026, but you also had an HLS agreement expiring on 28 Feb 2027, your SFI26 agreement wouldn’t begin until 1 March 2027 at the earliest.
What can you do to prepare?
Here are some simple steps you can take so that you are ready to submit your application.
Use SFI as a tool to build long-term climate resilience into your business. We are facing more frequent and extreme weather events from drought to flooding and many of the actions available under SFI can be used to improve farm climate resilience. It is important to consider the changing climate when planning your application. For example:
Can you use SOH1: No-till farming, to help reduce how much moisture you lose from the soil via cultivations,
Can you improve the water holding capacity of your soils by increasing organic matter using actions like,SOH3: Multi-species summer-sown cover crop.
Can you use actions like AGF1 & AGF2: Maintain very low/low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive land, to maintain in-field shade and shelter for livestock and also to help to reduce flooding risk.
Think about where different SFI actions might fit within your farming business, and how you can stack these actions together for the best environmental and business benefits.
Is there an area that always sits wet or is hard to access due to the gradient of slopes, which might be good for actions like SCR1: Create scrub and open habitat mosaics? Can you square a field off and use the areas outside the square for environmental actions e.g. CAHL3: Grassy field corners or blocks?
Consider environmentally beneficial management practices you may already be doing, or could fairly easily do, but which are not yet part of a scheme and add these in, e.g. CIPM4: No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops, CLIG3: Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs, CIPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips?
Identify which Capital Grant items you might need to apply for in order to deliver, the SFI actions and/or wider on-farm climate resilience:
e.g. Increasing hedgerows across your farm to act as a fire-break, shelter for livestock and/or to reduce the speed and airflow of drying winds across your arable fields. A capital grant application for BN11: planting new hedges would be needed, alongside applying for SFI CHRW2: Manage hedgerows.
Using Capital Grants funding to increase overall water storage on-farm through items like, WN12: Create or restore ponds up to 2 hectares.
Think about alternative funding options and how SFI might fit together with these other schemes to deliver for the environment and your business e.g. the recently reinstated Water Management Grants, which are due to open this Autumn, allowing farmers to apply for funding to build on-farm reservoirs, or CSHT single-focus agreements e.g. Species-rich grassland.
Check that all your details are up-to-date on the RPA system, including maps, permissions and contact details, to avoid any avoidable delays from mistakes in your application.
Make use of the all available application guidance so that you are as prepared as possible once the window opens. Information and application guidance can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-2026-sfi26
Check the RPA guidance document which details how to fix commonly encountered application problems.
Contact RPA as soon as possible if you encounter problems with your application process, to speed resolution of issues and ensure you do not miss out.
Sign-up to the Defra Farming Blog, so you receive notifications of any action or application guidance and wider scheme updates as and when they come out: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/subscribe/
Other important SFI announcements:
In order to account for the driest July on record, the extreme high temperatures and high fire-risk in England, Defra have announced a series of temporary adjustments to ELM revenue agreements.These aim to reduce fire risk, allow flexibility in establishing cover crop/other seed mixes and support farmers dealing with shortages of livestock grazing and fodder. Adjustments will remain in place until the Environment Agency changes the status of your County from ‘drought’ or ‘prolonged dry weather’ back to normal conditions. There are some exceptions to this end date where scheme actions state otherwise.
Schemes eligible for the temporary adjustments include, SFI, CS Higher Tier, Legacy CS agreements (Mid & Higher Tier) and HLS.
Farmers will not be forced to use the temporary adjustments and can continue to follow the existing requirements for the actions in their ELM agreements, but if they do undertake the temporary adjustments it will not affect the payments received under the agreement.
The adjustments largely centre on two key factors:
Extending the establishment window for actions such as; CAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land, AHW1: Bumblebird mix, SAM2: Multi-species winter cover crops etc.
Allowing farmers to cut action areas for fodder/bedding, or graze action areas to ease grass/fodder shortages e.g. IPM2 & CIPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field strips, AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland, BSF3: Buffer in-field ponds on improved grassland etc.
Full detail of the eligible actions, restrictions and required record keeping can be found on the RPA Hot and dry weather: temporary support for farmers in 2026 guidance page.
More information on the other measures of drought support recently announced by Defra can be found at this link: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/08/15/new-drought-support-for-farmers/
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