The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has unveiled the application windows for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme at this year’s Oxford Farming Conference today (Thursday, January 8).
When speaking at the conference, Defra Secretary of State Emma Reynolds announced that there will be two SFI application windows in 2026.
An initial window is set to open from June for small farms and those without existing Environmental Land Management agreements, followed by a second application window from September for all farms.
Reynolds added that Defra will be “streamlining” the SFI scheme to make it “less complex and easier to apply”.
She said: “There will be no more sudden unexpected closures and we will give you regular updates so you know when a window is close to being fully subscribed.
“Once these changes are in place, the main design of SFI will be stabilised for the rest of this parliament, so you will know what to expect in the years to come.”
These two application windows will be the first SFI rounds available to farmers since the scheme was closed on March 11, 2025 due the entirety of its previous budget being allocated.
Farming Profitability Review
Following the publication of Baroness Minette Batters’ Farming Profitability Review last month, Reynolds stated that Defra will be working through all of the review’s recommendations to help inform the government’s forthcoming 25-year Farming Roadmap.
This roadmap is expected to be published later this year, with Defra stating that it will “set out a clear, long-term vision for food production, environmental ambition, land use, and farm profitability.”
Reynolds outlined the government’s plans to establish a Farming and Food Partnership Board, which will “bring together senior leaders from farming, food, retail, finance and government to take a joined-up, farm-to-fork approach to improving profitability.”
Additionally, she announced a new £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund to support farmer groups in growing their businesses, building partnerships and sharing best practice.
An existing scheme, Farming in Protected Landscapes programme will also be extended for a further three years, with £30 million in funding next year alone, according to Reynolds.
