On Wednesday, Defra published the increases to the Higher-Level Stewardship payment rates. 157 options are being increased by 34.4% of the difference between the HLS rate and the equivalent Higher Tier or SFI action (this is not a 34.4% increase). This payment increase does not apply to 22 options that do not have a comparable option or action in CS or SFI and the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) element of all agreements will stay the same. There are 23 HLS options that are already paid at a higher rate than their CS and SFI equivalent and these payments will not change. The payment increase will be effective from 1 January 2025 and will be paid from December 2025. These rate increases will help bridge the gap in payment rates and, although they aren’t matching CS and SFI rates, are still welcome, especially given the challenges moving from HLS to Higher Tier and the temporary closure of SFI. You can read Defra’s statement here and the table of payment rates is here.
This analysis and the table below have been provided by Claire Foster who used to work for the Farmer Network and now is the Lake District National Park’s farming officer. She has summarised some of the main HLS payments relevant to upland farmers and how these compare with SFI and Higher Tier payments (thank you Claire!).
| Option code | Option name | Previous rate | Rate from 1 January 2025 | CS or SFI rate |
| HL2 | Permanent grassland with low inputs in SDAs | £35.00 | £35.00* | N/A |
| HL3 | Permanent grassland with very low inputs in SDAs | £60.00 | £91.30 | £151 |
| HK6 | Maintenance of species-rich, semi-natural grassland | £200.00 | £353.42 | £646 |
| HK9 | Maintenance of wet grassland for breeding waders | £335.00 | £452.30 | £676 |
| HK15 | Maintenance of grassland for target features | £130.00 | £266.91 | £528 |
| HK18 | Haymaking supplement | £75.00 | £103.21 | £157 |
| HD1 | Maintenance of traditional farm buildings | £2.00 | £3.03 | £5 |
| HD5 | Management of archaeological features on grassland | £16.00 | £29.42 | £55 |
| HR2 | Native breeds at risk grazing supplement | £70.00 | £103.37 | £167 |
| HL4 | Management of rush pastures in SDAs ( | £60.00 | £91.30 | £151 |
| HL6 | Unenclosed moorland rough grazing | £5.00 | £22.20 | £55 |
| HL7 | Maintenance of rough grazing for birds | £80.00 | £94.10 | £121 |
| HL8 | Restoration of rough grazing birds | £80.00 | £94.10 | £121 |
| HL9 | Maintenance of moorland | £40.00 | £45.16 | £55 |
