A revamped version of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will open for applications within the first six months of 2026, the government has suggested.
Defra secretary Emma Reynolds said the government was working hard to revise the scheme, which was closed to applications from farmers after all the budget was allocated in March 2025.
Work was underway to reform the SFI offer, Ms Reynolds told last month’s Country Land and Business Association conference in London. This work was “urgent, but also complex,” she told delegates at the QE2 Centre, Westminster.
Budget and timings
Any planned changes would be an “evolution, not a revolution,” Ms Reynolds added. “Full scheme details, including the budget, timings, and eligibility criteria will be published well ahead of launch.”
CLA president and farmer Gavin Lane asked when the scheme would be unveiled. Ms Reynolds said getting the offer right was a priority and the intention was for it to launch during the first half of 2026.
Speaking later to reporters, Mr Lane suggested this could mean that successful applicants might not receive any payments from the scheme until 2027 – which would do nothing to help farm cashflows.
Actions
Improved budgetary controls are also expected to help SFI money reach more farmers and focus on the most impactful actions to benefit the environment and complement farming businesses.
But Ms Reynolds warned that there would be trade-offs. The scheme could be altered to better support sustainable farming, she said. This is expected to see fewer options and some kind of limit or capping on payments to growers and livestock producers.
Farm leaders have called for the government to move quickly. NFU deputy president David Exwood said: “There were some encouraging signals from the Defra Secretary of State about clarity, certainty and the need to build confidence in SFI.
Further details
“The announcement that SFI will reopen in the first half of next year is welcome. But further details can’t come soon enough for those farm businesses struggling to understand what environmental land management schemes will mean for them.
“We look forward to working with Defra to develop policies that will unlock the potential of UK agriculture and ensure farmers are rewarded for the public goods they deliver for the environment alongside producing food for 70 million consumers.”
Rural economy ‘at heart of national growth plan’
The UK’s £259 billion rural economy is absolutely fundamental to the government’s national growth plan, says Defra secretary Emma Reynolds.
When rural communities succeed, “the whole country succeeds,” she told the Country Land and Business Association conference. The countryside was home to over half a million businesses – making a valuable contribution.
‘Encouraging signs’
Ms Reynolds highlighted Defra statistics showing showed that average farm incomes increased by £21,500 to £71,200 in the past year. These figures included a 17% increase in average income from diversification.
But that performance is unlikely to be repeated this year following a difficult harvest, the almost total phaseout of basic payments to farmers and the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applications.
Recognising that extreme weather “isn’t just future risk, it’s today’s reality”, Ms Reynolds said the government was making substantial fiscal commitments to resilience, investing a record £10.5 billion in flood defences. This complements an investment of over £1 billion for a new national biosecurity centre at Weybridge. The investment is designed to protect livestock from diseases that can devastate businesses overnight, she added.
The government’s Farming Profitability Review, led by Baroness Batters, would be published before Christmas, said Ms Reynolds. It would be followed by the Land Use Framework and Farming Roadmap early next year.