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The new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer for 2026

Thu 08 Jan 2026

Today at the Oxford Farming Conference, the Environment Secretary announced the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer will launch this year. It will continue to support sustainable farming in England and help encourage growth.

The key messages are:

  • The SFI offer will be streamlined by reducing the number of actions available. 
  • There will still be a broad offer to suit different types of farms and plenty of choice, with greater emphasis on actions that support sustainable food production.
  • We will likely see further limits on how much land can be put into actions that take land out of production.
  • There will be a review on payment rates for actions that take land out of production where uptake has been particularly high.

The confirmed SFI application windows this year will be:

First Window: Opens June

This will be open to farmers will small farms

Or

Farmers without existing environmental land management agreements

Second window: Opens September

Open to all farmers.

Further information on these groups and when you can apply will be released closer to the application windows. 

As expected, budgets continue to be tight, however the Environment Secretary promised that budgets will be transparent and regular updates will be provided. As we move closer to June, it is important to remain up to date with any changes and begin to plan what would suit your farm, prior to the application window opening.

Following this detail on the new SFI and other major announcements for farmers by Emma Reynolds at today's Oxford Farming Conference, we enter 2026 with some clarity, but gone are the days of predictable stability. Today's farming businesses must be fast and precise in their decision-making and proactive in securing the funding they need.

With that in mind, our expert professionals are uniquely able to support you with future planning whether it be financial reporting, farm finance, grant finding, planning or succession planning, please contact please contact Abi Saunders on 07930 592030 or email [email protected] for an initial chat and signposting to the relevant trusted advisor in the Masons Rural Team.

If you're not already subscribed to our email newsletter, please sign up here or if you would like further advice or assistance, please give me a call on 07930 592030 at any time. 


Abi Saunders
Agri Business Advisor
[email protected]