Funding for farmers, growers and land managers

This page tells you about grants and other funding currently open or opening soon.

You may be able to apply for one or more of the available grants and funding schemes if you or your land are eligible. The guidance for each scheme will explain where this is possible.

Manage your land to benefit the environment

Apply through an environmental land management (ELM) scheme to farm productively and in a way that benefits the environment. There are 3 ELM schemes.

1. Sustainable Farming Incentive

If you were eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2022 or 2023, you’ll be able to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).

SFI is a 3-year agreement made up of a choice of environmental land management actions you need to complete to receive payment. These actions will help you manage your land in a more sustainable way. The number of actions will expand each year until the full range is available by 2024.

If you are eligible, you can apply for up to 23 actions for:

• soil health
• moorland assessment
• hedgerows
• integrated pest management
• nutrient management
• farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land
• farmland wildlife on improved grassland
• buffer strips
• low input grassland

Read the guidance for SFI 2023 to get ready to apply.

2. Countryside Stewardship (CS)

You can apply for Countryside Stewardship to get paid to:

• increase biodiversity
• improve habitat
• expand woodland areas
• improve water quality
• improve air quality
• improve natural flood management

Use the CS grant finder to see what’s available to achieve these environmental outcomes.

3. Landscape Recovery

Landscape Recovery pays groups of farmers and land managers to do long-term, large-scale projects together. Land must be in England and consist of at least 500 connected hectares.

You can apply to join the Landscape Recovery scheme if you’re planning to do a landscape-scale project that supports:

• net zero carbon emissions
• protected sites
• wildlife-rich habitat

Improve water quality and air quality

You can apply for grants to improve water and air quality through CS. Check the CS grant finder for water quality options and air quality options. You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.

Reduce flood risk

You can apply for grants to reduce flood risk through CS. Check the CS grant finder for natural flood management options. You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.

Protect species and habitats and support biodiversity

You can apply for grants to protect species and habitats and support biodiversity through CS. Check the CS grant finder for:

• priority habitats options
• pollinators and wildlife options
• biodiversity options

You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.

CS Wildlife Offers

Wildlife Offers are part of CS Mid Tier and are a simpler way to improve biodiversity based on land use. You can choose to:

• improve nectar sources for insect pollinators and foraging for birds
• provide additional winter food sources for seed-eating birds
• improve habitats and other resources for specific species or areas

There are CS wildlife packages for:

• arable land
• lowland grazing
• mixed farming
• uplands

SFI offers

When SFI opens, you can choose SFI management actions for:

• hedgerows
• buffer strips
• farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land and improved grassland

Species Survival Fund

You can express an interest to apply for a grant to create and restore habitats and reverse the decline of species across England. You need to have a nature recovery project planned, costed and ready to start.

Further information is available on the Heritage Fund website.

Farm in protected landscapes

You can apply for funding if you’re a farmer or land manager within an area of outstanding natural beauty or national park in England. You must be planning projects that:

• support nature recovery
• mitigate the impacts of climate change
• provide opportunities for people to discover nature
• protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape

Read the guidance for the Farming in Protected Landscapes Progamme to find out how to apply.

Protect animal health and welfare

SFI annual health and welfare review

Farmers who keep cattle, sheep or pigs can get afunding payment for a vet or vet-led team to visit their farm and carry out an annual health and welfare review.

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There is also an infrastructure grant for new or refurbished calf housing. Read more about the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant.

Create or improve woodland and protect tree health

Creating woodland

The England Woodland Creation Grant (EWCO) provides funding to create new woodland on areas that are at least 1 hectare.

Read the Forestry Commission’s overview of grants available for woodland creation, maintenance, management and tree health.

There are also regional funding opportunities to create woodland, such as:

• England’s Community Forests - funding is available for planting trees in some areas
• The Northern Forest - you can get paid to create woodland in parts of Lancashire, Merseyside, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
• The National Forest - money is available to create and maintain forests across the country

Planning woodland

CS offers grants for 10-year woodland management planning.

The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) provides funding to prepare a Woodland Creation Design Plan that complies with the UK Forestry Standard.

You can use this plan to support further woodland creation grant applications, such as EWCO.

Protecting tree health

You can apply to the tree health pilot scheme 2023 to test different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. Grants are available for:

• ash with ash dieback
• diseased larch, spruce and sweet chestnut
• oak with oak processionary moth
• restocking trees

CS Woodland Tree Health grant pays you to restock or improve woodland after tree health problems. There are 19 capital items available under CS to choose from.

Invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure to increase productivity

You can apply for grants through the Farming Investment Fund (FIF) to invest in new technology, equipment and infrastructure to improve:

• productivity
• the environment
• animal health and welfare

FIF grants are provided through the Farming Transformation Fund and Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.

This page will be updated with new FIF grants or further application rounds of previous grants when they open. Read the details of the 3 FIF grants currently open.

Water Management Grant (round 2)

You can apply for this grant if you’re both:

• representing an arable and horticultural business
• growing, or intending to grow irrigated food crops, ornamentals or forestry nurseries in England

Slurry Infrastructure grant

The Slurry Infrastructure grant is for pig, beef and dairy farmers whose farming systems produce slurry. It helps replace, build new or expand existing slurry stores to provide 6 months’ storage.

The application process is at stage 2 for invited applications who passed stage 1.

Adding Value grant

The Adding Value grant is available for growers or producers to add value to eligible agricultural products after they have been harvested or reared. You can only apply if you were successful at stage 1 of the application process.

Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant

Beef and dairy farmers can soon check if they’re eligible to apply for grants to build new or refurbish existing calf housing. Read more about the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant and what you need to do to apply.

Research and innovation

You can apply for grants through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) to:

• improve agricultural and horticultural productivity, sustainability and resilience
• reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and horticulture
• use science and research to develop solutions for practical challenges in agriculture and horticulture

FIP grants are provided through the Defra Farming and Countryside Programme. Further information is available on the UK Research and Innovation website.

Direct payments

Delinked payments replacing Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)

Applications for BPS 2023 are now closed. BPS will end on 31 December 2023.

From 2024, BPS will be replaced by ‘delinked payments’. These payments will be made until 2027.

Each year, direct payments are being progressively reduced until they’re phased out by 2028. You can calculate how these progressive reductions could affect your direct payments for 2023 and 2024.