At the NFU Conference this week, Emma Reynold’s speech included a number of significant announcements about schemes. More details below:
Key points include:
- SFI 2026 will open for small farms of less than 50ha and those without existing ELM agreements in June. Other farmers will be able to apply from September.
- There is an agreement level cap of £100k per year.
- Only one SFI 2026 agreement will be allowed for each business (i.e. per SBI number).
- The number of actions/options have been reduced from 102 down to 71. Notable options that won’t be available in the 2026 scheme include:
- The species rich grassland option which will now only be available in Higher Tier.
- The SFI Moorland Survey, Hedgerow Survey and Soils Assessment options.
- The non-moorland cattle grazing supplement of £59/ha.
- Shepherding livestock on moorland – no stock removal £33/ha.
- Cattle/ponies on moorland supplement minimum 30% LUs.
- Keep native breeds supplement (50-80% of total LUs). The >80% LUs options have been retained.
- Nutrient Management and Integrated Pest Management Plans.
- Some payments have been reduced :
- CSAM3: Herbal leys from £382/ha to £224/ha
- CAHL2: Winter bird food from £853/ha to £648/ha
- CNUM3: Legume fallow from £593/ha to £532/ha
- Moorland payments have been increased:
- UPL1: Moderate livestock grazing on moorland – £35/ha (was £20/ha)
- UPL2: Low livestock grazing on moorland – £89/ha (was £53/ha)
- UPL3: Limited livestock grazing on moorland – £111/ha (was £66/ha)
- UPL8: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 4 months) – £74/ha (was £43/ha)
- UPL10: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 8 months) – £102/ha (was £48/ha).
- There will not be an SFI Management Payment.
- The area or value of rotational actions cannot be increased – they can only be moved to different land parcels.
These changes will not apply to existing SFI agreements apart from the increase to the moorland payments. This is short summary of a lot of information – read more at SFI26: details, definitions and what to expect – The Farming Blog
