SFI26: an update

It's encouraging to see so many farmers engaging with the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) since Window 1 opened in June. 

Window 1 was designed to give smaller farms and those not already receiving ELM revenue funding an early opportunity to access the scheme.

It formed part of our plans to make funding simpler, fairer and more accessible to a wider range of farm businesses. 

Uptake of SFI26 agreements in Window 1 so far 

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) began making SFI26 agreement offers to Window 1 applicants in July. 

We’re pleased that, of the 1,188 agreements offered to farmers so far, 922 were accepted by 31 July. This meant they were able to start on 1 August. 

To date, around two-thirds of farmers have accepted their agreement offer within 2 days. 

The RPA continues to make agreement offers. We encourage farmers to accept their offers as quickly as possible. 

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) 

If you’ve applied for SFI26 on SSSI land, it’s important that you submit the required SSSI notice to get consent from Natural England as soon as possible. 

The RPA cannot offer you an SFI26 agreement until you’ve done this. Read section 10.1 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI26 scheme rules and guidance to find out how to do this. 

Budget allocation and the closure of Window 1 

The available budget for Window 1 is £60 million. We’ve published budget updates on the blog, based on SFI26 applications received so far.  

We said that Window 1 was expected to remain open for around 2 months, unless all the available funding for this window was allocated sooner.

This means Window 1 will close no later than 11:59pm on 28 August 2026. 

Eligible farmers for Window 1 who do not apply during this window can apply in Window 2 instead. 

Applying in Window 2 

Window 2 will open in September 2026 for all farmers and land managers. 

We’ll confirm the date we expect to open applications once Window 1 has closed.  

The available budget for Window 2 will be £180 million. Any funding not allocated through Window 1 will be added to the budget for Window 2. 

Starting an application for Window 2 early 

Farmers whose ELM revenue agreements were due to expire would normally have to wait until those agreements ended before being able to apply for a new agreement.  

As we confirmed in our blog post on 30 June, we will introduce a new feature in the SFI26 application service for farmers with eligible ELM revenue agreements that expire by the end of February 2027 to start an application early. 

This means they can begin an SFI26 application and apply for land that is currently in their ELM revenue agreement before that agreement ends. 

This will take effect when Window 2 opens. We will test and refine the new feature in the application service with a small number of farmers and land managers before it is available to everyone.  

We've published additional information in the SFI26 scheme rules and guidance on GOV.UK explaining how this will work. Read section 3.8 ‘If your ELM revenue agreement is ending soon (Window 2 only)’. 

Make sure you’re ready to apply 

Before you start an SFI26 application for Window 1 or Window 2, read the ‘Get ready to apply’ guidance in the SFI26 scheme rules and guidance. 

It explains the steps you need to take before you start your application, so the process is as straightforward as possible. 

This includes making sure that the land parcels you want to include in your application are shown correctly on your digital maps. If these land details are not correct, it may prevent you from applying for SFI26.  

Learn more 

SFI26 scheme information 

The SFI26 scheme information published on GOV.UK includes:

• the terms and conditions which apply to all SFI26 agreements    
• the scheme rules, which explain the mandatory requirements set in the SFI26 terms and conditions    
• the requirements for each SFI26 action which are available on the ‘Find funding for land or farms’ tool on GOV.UK (or the HTML print version) – you can review the actions available and consider which may work for your farm business  
• guidance to help you apply for, and manage, your SFI26 agreement 

SFI: Getting started leaflet 

We’ve put together a leaflet to help you understand the Sustainable Farming Incentive and how to get started – download it. 

SFI: planning your fertiliser and nutrient use 

This leaflet sets out the SFI actions that can help improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based fertilisers, supporting more sustainable and resilient farming practices. 

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