SFI is returning in 2026 and is continuing with its aim to ‘support farmers to manage their land in ways that deliver environmental benefits as they produce food’. The 2026 offer has been redesigned with fewer actions, amended payment rates, capped total payments and a fixed application window.
There are now 71 actions available (down from 102 in SFI24), with those removed as a result of low uptake, low environmental benefit, poor ‘value for money’ and potential overlap with other schemes.
Some high-paying actions, such as herbal leys, winter bord food and legume fallow, have had their payments cut to avoid incentivising taking productive land out of food production. Importantly, these reductions apply only to new SFI26 agreements. The overall management payment has also been removed.
There are also new caps and limits:
- £100,000 annual cap per agreement
- One agreement per business
- 25% area limit continues for certain actions (e.g., margins, bird food, stubble)
- Enhanced overwinter stubble added to the 25% cap
- Rotational actions cannot exceed Year 1 area in later years
Application Windows
- Window 1 — June 2026 for small farms of less than 50 hectares and those with no existing RPA managed environmental scheme
- Window 2 — September 2026 will be open to all farms
Available Actions
As highlighted above, there will be 71 actions available for SFI 2026 and here is the complete list:
ACTIONS FOR SOILS
CSAM2 – £129 per Ha: Multi-species winter cover crops
CSAM3 – £224 per Ha: Herbal leys (was previously £382/Ha)
SOH1 – £73 per Ha: No-till farming
SOH3 – £163 per Ha: Summer-sown cover crops
ACTIONS FOR NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
CNUM2 – £102 per Ha: Establish and maintain legumes on improved grassland
CNUM3 – £532 per Ha: Establish and maintain legume fallow (was previously £593/Ha)
ACTIONS FOR INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM)
CIPM2 – £798 per Ha: Establish and maintain flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips
CIPM3 – £55 per Ha: Establish a companion crop on arable and horticultural land
CIPM4 – £45 per Ha: No use of insecticide on arable crops or permanent crops (static on permanent crops)
ACTIONS FOR PRECISION FARMING
PRF1 – £27 per Ha: Variable rate application of nutrients on arable, horticultural or improved grassland
PRF2 – £43 per Ha: Camera or remote sensor guided herbicide spraying on arable, permanent crops or permanent grassland
PRF4 – £150 per Ha: Mechanical robotic weeding on arable and horticultural land
ACTIONS FOR FARMLAND WILDLIFE & HABITATS ON ARABLE AND HORTICULTURAL LAND
CAHL1 – £739 per Ha: Establish and maintain blocks or strips of pollen and nectar flower mix
CAHL2 – £648 per Ha: Establish and maintain blocks or strips of winter bird food on arable or horticultural land (was previously £853/ha)
CAHL3 – £590 per Ha: Establish and maintain grassy field corners or blocks
AHW2 – £732 per tonne: Supplementary winter bird food
AHW3 – £764 per Ha: Establish an in-field beetle bank
AHW4 – £11 per plot: Establish Skylark plots (min. 2 plots per Ha)
AHW5 – £765 per Ha: Establish nesting plots for lapwing
AHW6 – £58 per Ha: Basic overwinter stubble
AHW7 – £589 per Ha: Enhanced overwinter stubble
AHW8 – £596 per Ha: Whole crop spring cereals and overwintered stubbles
AHW9 – £1,072 per Ha: Unharvested cereal headland
AHW10 – £354 per Ha: Low input harvested cereal crop
AHW11 – £660 per Ha: Fallow cultivated margins or plots for arable plants
ACTIONS FOR FARMLAND WILDLIFE & HABITATS ON GRASSLAND
CIGL1 – £333 per Ha: Take improved grassland field corners and blocks out of management
CIGL2 – £515 per Ha: Maintain improved grassland to provide winter bird food
CLIG3 – £151 per Ha: Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs
GRH1 – £121 per Ha: Manage rough grazing for birds
GRH7/8 – £157/187 per Ha: Haymaking supplement/Haymaking supplement late cut
GRH10 – £28 per Ha: Lenient grazing supplement
SCR1/2 – £588/350 per Ha: Create /manage scrub and open habitat mosaics
ACTIONS FOR MOORLAND
UPL1/2/3 – £35/89/11 per Ha: Moderate/low/limited livestock grazing on moorland
UPL5/6 – £18/23 per Ha: Keep cattle & ponies on moorland supplement -Min. 70% or 100% GLU
UPL8/10 – £74/102 per Ha: Shepherding livestock on moorland – remove stock for min. 4/8 mths
ACTIONS FOR SPECIES RECOVERY AND MANAGEMENT
SPM3 – £146 per Ha: Native breeds on grazed habitats suppl’t – >80%
SPM4 – £11 per Ha: Native breeds on extensively managed habitats suppl’t – > 80%
Actions no longer available:
CSAM1- £97 and £6.00 per Ha: Assess soil, test soil organic matter and produce a soil management plan
SOH2 – £163 per Ha: Multi-species spring sown cover crop
SOH4 – £204 per Ha: Winter cover following maize crops
CNUM1 – £652 per year: Assess nutrient management and produce a review report
CIPM1 – £1,129 per year: Assess integrated pest management (IPM) and produce an IPM plan
PRF3 – £101 per Ha: Non-mechanical robotic weeding (e.g laser) on arable and horticultural land
AHW1 – £747 per Ha: Establish a bumblebird mix as a block or strip
AHW12 – £428 per Ha: Manage woodland edges on arable land
GRH6 – £646 per Ha: Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland (endorsed)
GRH11 – £59 per Ha: Cattle grazing supplement (non-moorland)
CMOR1 – £272 + £10.60 per Ha: Assess moorland and produce a written record
UPL7 – £33 per Ha: Shepherding livestock on moorland – no stock removal period
UPL4 – £7 per ha: Keep cattle & ponies on moorland supplement – Min 30% GLU
UPL9 – £45 per ha: Shepherding livestock on moorland – remove stock for min. 6 months
SPM2 – £92 per ha: Native breeds on grazed habitats suppl’t – 50-80%
SPM4 – £7 per ha: Native breeds on extensively managed habitats suppl’t – 50-80%
