The SFI26 budget

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Sustainable Farming Incentive
Aerial view of green farmland with rows of crops divided by hedgerows and a line of evenly spaced trees casting long shadows, under a partly cloudy sky stretching across a gently rolling countryside.

Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle has confirmed a £240 million budget for new Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements. In this post, we explain how the funding will be allocated, what it means for Window 1 and Window 2 applicants, and where you can find information to help you prepare for the scheme opening later this month.

Fertiliser survey: share your views 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Farming and Countryside Team, Nutrient inputs
A yellow telehandler is parked beside a flatbed trailer loaded with large white bulk bags on a farm track. In the background, a green tractor with a red attachment is working a field of young crops. The landscape is flat and open with a line of trees in the distance under a clear sky.

The conflict in the Middle East continues to influence global fuel and energy prices. We’re working closely with industry to monitor the situation. As part of this, we want to understand how these changes are affecting farmers and land managers in England. We’ve launched a survey to gather your experiences.

An update on SFI and our agri-environment schemes 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: environmental land management schemes, Sustainable Farming Incentive
Combine Harvester at work in Bradfield St George with farmer in foreground

It's been a while since our last post. We’re glad to be back! Over the past month, we've been welcoming Defra's new ministerial team, who are fully committed to environmental land management schemes. We've been working with them to optimise our schemes and grants for farmers, food security and nature recovery. In this post, we’ll …

Protecting hedgerows: share your views

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: environmental land management schemes, Payments to support hedgerows
Hedgerow with buffer strip

Hedgerows store carbon, support crop pollinators, create habitats for animals, slow water flow and create shade and fodder for animals. We want to protect the hedges we have, invest in their maintenance and support further planting.  We also want to make sure that hedgerow regulations work for wildlife, the environment and farmers. Today we launched …

Tree Health Pilot: our improvements and progress

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments to improve tree health
A diseased tree with Phytophthora ramorum.

The Tree Health Pilot is a 3-year scheme which tests different ways of slowing the spread of tree pests and diseases as well as building the resilience of trees across England. Using what we’ve learned so far from testing and feedback, we’ve made a number of improvements to better support land managers to deal with …