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Grants Special
Edited by Alex Black alex.black@agriconnect.com 07880 490 486
A focus on farmers’ preparations for the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Environmental Land Management, capital grants, organic options and the ADOPT scheme. 25 CAPITAL GRANTS
26 WATER
Opportunities for environmental work
28 ORGANIC
Support available for conversion
30 ADOPT
Funding for innovation and collaboration
PICTURE: GETTY
Prepare now for the next round
The first application period of the refreshed SFI will be open to farms covering three to 50 hectares.
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pplications for the latest round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will open in June, with hopes that changes to the scheme will make it more accessible for smaller farmers. Changes to the scheme were announced at February’s NFU conference, with the number of actions being cut from 102 to 71, and a cap on agreements of £100,000. Budgets will be set for each application window and there will be regular updates so farmers know when funding is close to being fully allocated. The application windows will not close without warning, Defra said, after the fiasco of the last round closing at short notice. The first application window in June will be for farms from three to 50 hectares and those who do not
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| April 10, 2026
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Small farms await SFI opening in June have an existing Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme in place. The second window will open in September for all farmers. This includes those with small farms and those without an existing ELM agreement who did not apply in the first window. Defra said the changes would help achieve the Government’s target of doubling the number of farms
providing sufficient year-round resources for farm wildlife by December 2030, compared with 2025. Following the announcement, Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said: “Moves to simplify the application process are welcome, as smaller farms have often found it difficult to secure funding compared to larger ones with more resources.
“Concentrating initially on farms that do not have any ELM agreements, along with the promise of more support for upland farmers, is also positive news.” However, he said the funding being offered fell ‘considerably short’ of what was required for the fullscale transition to nature-friendly farming required for meeting the UK’s goals on climate mitigation and nature’s restoration. FGbuyandsell.com
07/04/2026 09:15