Today, the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and Farming Minister, Stephen Morgan, have announced a package of support to help farmers manage the impacts of this summer’s extreme dry weather. The announcement was made during their visit to a farm in Cornwall.
Heatwaves and below-average rainfall have increased pressure on water resources for agricultural production and Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme activities. Dry conditions and heat have also increased the risk of wildfires across many parts of the country.
We know these conditions are creating real challenges for farmers.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister chaired the government’s emergency response committee (COBR) on extreme heat, wildfires and drought.
Following COBR, measures announced today will help farmers manage drought pressures, protect crops and strengthen resilience for the future.
We’ve confirmed:
- Temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management (ELM) agreements, so farmers affected by drought can continue to receive payments and take practical steps to protect livestock, crops and land.
- An extra £50 million for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2, taking the total budget for SFI26 to £290 million to help more farmers access support. Increased SFI uptake will help farmers to adapt to the risk of future droughts.
- Action to make it easier to build reservoirs, including reducing unnecessary barriers and updating planning guidance.
- Funding up to £15 million to build on-farm reservoirs, helping farmers store water and become more resilient to future droughts.
- Improved access to water during drought conditions, including that the Environment Agency will prioritise requests for short term variations to abstraction licence conditions.
Our investment today supports our Farming Roadmap vision of building a stronger, more resilient farming sector.
We're committed to working with farmers to improve the resilience of on-farm water supplies. This includes making sure the right planning and abstraction licensing arrangements are in place so farmers can invest with confidence.
We'll continue to monitor the situation closely and work with the farming and water sectors. If needed, we'll take further action to help farmers manage the impacts of drought.
In this post, we explain the support announced today, who is eligible, and how farmers can benefit.
ELM temporary adjustments
We're introducing temporary adjustments to our ELM schemes to give farm businesses flexibility where prolonged dry weather is affecting their ability to meet agreement requirements.
To help farmers manage the impacts, we're:
- removing restrictions so farmers and land managers can cut and graze land in an ELM agreement. This is to help ease shortages of grazing, fodder, forage crops and bedding.
- allowing farmers to create firebreaks on land in an agreement to protect houses, animals and crops from wildfires
- giving farmers more time to plant and establish ELM actions where dry conditions have made planting seed mixes impossible
Using temporary adjustments will not affect the payments you receive under your ELM agreement.
Read the full guidance on GOV.UK.
Eligibility
These temporary adjustments apply to ELM revenue agreements under the following schemes:
- Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)
- current Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT)
- legacy CS – including Mid Tier (CSMT) and CSHT
- Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) under Environmental Stewardship (ES)
You can use a temporary adjustment if your land is in a county where the Environment Agency has declared ‘drought’ or ‘prolonged dry weather’ status.
As of 15 August 2026, all counties in England meet this criteria, meaning that all ELM agreement holders can use the temporary adjustments.
The temporary adjustments will remain available until the Environment Agency returns the county to normal status.
Keep up to date
You can check the latest drought status through Environment Agency drought reports.
The RPA keeps extreme weather guidance for farmers and land managers up to date on GOV.UK.
Earlier this week, we published a blog post rounding up information and resources to help farmers and growers manage farms and land during drought.
£50m increase to SFI Window 2
We're increasing funding for SFI26 Window 2 by £50m.
This takes the total SFI26 budget to £290m for new agreements. The additional funding will help more farmers access a reliable income stream at a time when many are facing lower yields and rising costs.
This will help more farmers sustainably manage soils, livestock, nutrients, fertiliser use and farm wildlife alongside food production.
SFI already funds drought-resilient, sustainable farming practices like increasing soil organic matter levels in arable soils through cover crops, and minimising soil disturbance through no-till.
Many of these actions improve soil health and increases the land’s ability to retain moisture, helping farmers manage the immediate weather while also increasing resilience for the future.
Window 2 will open in September to all farmers.
Earlier this month we published an update on SFI26, including details about how to apply. We will monitor demand for the scheme closely as applications open.
Water Management Grant
We're reopening the Water Management Grant, with up to £15m available to help farmers build on-farm reservoirs.
The grant is expected to open in the autumn.
This means that farmers will be able to store more water when it’s available and use it when it is needed most, improving resilience during dry periods and helping protect crop production.
On-farm water storage is an important part of preparing for more frequent periods of extreme weather. Having access to a reliable supply of water can help farmers manage short-term pressures while strengthening the long-term resilience of their businesses.
The scheme will focus on supporting water storage for crop irrigation, helping the horticulture and arable sectors adapt to climate change and improve resilience to drought.
If demand exceeds the funding available, we will keep the budget under review and consider providing additional funding.
Government has already announced plans to support the development of nine new reservoirs, to strengthen the country's water infrastructure and improve resilience to future droughts, floods and extreme weather.
Reducing planning barriers to building reservoirs
We're making it easier for farmers to build on-farm reservoirs.
Next week, we will publish our response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, making it clear that local authorities should support the development of agricultural infrastructure, including reservoirs.
This also means boosting support for greenhouses, polytunnels and farm shops – infrastructure that's essential for modern, productive farming.
In September, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will publish updated planning guidance for on-farm reservoirs to give farmers more clarity and confidence when investing in water resilience.
Defra and MHCLG will work with farmers and industry representatives, including the NFU and CLA, to review evidence on the effectiveness of current permitted development rights (PDRs) for on-farm reservoirs.
This is a first step in considering whether further planning reforms are needed to support the delivery of the infrastructure required for food production.
Environment Agency Regulatory Flexibilities
If you hold an abstraction licence and are concerned about your water supply, contact the Environment Agency as early as possible.
Farmers can already apply for temporary flexibilities from the Environment Agency to help access water during periods of extreme dry weather.
These flexibilities can include:
- extending abstraction seasons
- allowing earlier reservoir refilling when conditions allow
- trading water rights between licence holders
- joining licences together to give greater flexibility over where water can be used
- moving or adding abstraction points
- increasing licensed quantities where water is available and environmental conditions permit
All requests are assessed carefully to consider the impact on the environment or other water users.
We know that we need to get abstraction licensing right so that investment in a reservoir makes sense for farmers.
From September, the Environment Agency is simplifying its application process for long-duration abstraction licences for reservoirs. This will make it easier for farmers and other abstractors to apply for licences that better support long-term investment in water storage and resilience, and help farmers secure long-term finance.
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