Guidance

Funding for farmers, growers and land managers

Apply for grants and other funding to increase productivity, manage your land to benefit the environment and support your agricultural business.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Rural Payments Agency, and Forestry Commission
Published
9 March 2022
Last updated
1420 DecemberFebruary 20232024 — See all updates

Applies to England

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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

Grant value: between £10 and £732 per hectare, depending on the action.
Closing date: to be confirmed.

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)

Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.

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

Closing date: the scheme is now closed.

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.

The Landscape Recovery scheme supports:

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

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.

Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) has 3 grants to help you buy items to:  

  • improve productivity
  • manage slurry
  • improve animal health and welfare

Open: first window will open for applications shortly.
Grant value: up to £50,000 towards productivity and slurry items and up to £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items.
Closing date: first window closing date will be confirmed shortly.

Water Management grant (round 2)

Grant value: 40% of eligible costs of a project up to £500,000.
Closing date: now closed.

Read further information if you’re an agreement holder.

Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2)

Grant value: between £25,000 and £250,000.
Closing date: now closed.

The Slurry Infrastructure grant: round 2 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. You can check if you’re eligible to apply using the eligibility checker.

Guidance for round 1 applicants. If you’ve been invited to make a full application, you have until 11:59pm on 28 June 2024 to submit your documents.

Adding Value grant

Grant value: between £25,000 and £300,000.
Closing date: applicants who were successful at stage 1 must submit their full application by 31 January 2024.

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

Closed: eligibility checker closed on 30 November.

The eligibility checker to apply for a calf housing grant is now closed. Read the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant guidance to find out about the next stage of the application process.

Improving Farm Productivity grant (round 2)

Opens: eligibility checker opens in January 2024.
Grant value: between £25,000 and £500,000 for robotic or automatic equipment
between £15,000 and £100,000 for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Closing date: 21 March 2024.

Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant opens in January 2024 for farmers and horticulturalists in England. Find out what the grant can pay for and how to apply.

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.

Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.

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.

Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.

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:

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

CS Wildlife Offers

Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.

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:

SFI offers

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

Species Survival Fund

Grants value: from £250,000 to £3 million for 2-year projects.
Closed: the fund is now closed.

Further information is available on the Heritage Fund website.

Farming in protected landscapes

Open: apply at any time of year.
Grant value: amounts vary depending on your project.
Closing date: projects must end by March 2025.

Through the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, 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 FiPL programme to find out how to apply.

Protect animal health and welfare

SFI annual health and welfare review

Open: apply at any time of year.
Grant value: from £372 to £684 per vet review depending on livestock type.

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

Read the guidance on how to apply for an annual health and welfare review of livestock.

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.

Open: all year round.
Grant value: up to £10,200 with an additional £8,000 if the woodland is for public benefits.
Closing date: 1 January 2025.

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

Creating regional woodland

If your land is located within the catchment area of one of our local Woodland Creation Partners, you could apply for a regional woodland creation or tree planting grant that can be tailored to your circumstances.

Catchment areas are as follows:

Our woodland creation campaign tells you more about these regional grants.

Planning woodland

CS offers grants for 10-year woodland management planning.

Open: all year round.
Grant value: depends on the area of eligible woodland.

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

Open: all year round.
Grant value: maximum £30,000 per project.

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

Open: all year round.
Grant value:
- up to 80% of felling costs capped at £50 per m3
- up to 40% of infrastructure costs capped at £100 per linear metre for road or track costs and £30 per m2 for loading areas
Closing date: August 2024.

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.

Open: all year round.
Grant value: varies depending on the capital items chosen as part of your CS grant agreement.

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 FIF grants currently open.

Water Management grant (round 2)

Grant value: 40% of eligible costs of a project up to £500,000.
Closing date: now closed.

Read further information if you’re an agreement holder.

Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2)

Grant value: between £25,000 and £250,000.
Closing date: 11:59pm 17 January 2024.

The Slurry Infrastructure grant: round 2 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. You can check if you’re eligible to apply using the eligibility checker.

Guidance for round 1 applicants. If you’ve been invited to make a full application, you have until 11:59pm on 28 June 2024 to submit your documents.

Adding Value grant

Grant value: between £25,000 and £300,000.
Closing date: applicants who were successful at stage 1 must submit their full application by 31 January 2024.

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

Closed: eligibility checker closed on 30 November.

The eligibility checker to apply for a calf housing grant is now closed. Read the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant guidance to find out about the next stage of the application process.

Improving Farm Productivity grant (round 2)

Opens: eligibility checker opens in January 2024.
Grant value: between £25,000 and £500,000 for robotic or automatic equipment
between £15,000 and £100,000 for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant opens in January 2024 for farmers and horticulturalists in England. Find out what the grant can pay for and how to apply.

Attract private investment in nature projects

Opens: 11 December 2023.
Grant value: grants of up to £100,000 from a £5 million fund.
Closing date: midday 16 February 2024.

The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) willoffers soon offer grants to help farmers attract private investment in nature projects, such as selling carbon units through peatland restoration. Read the NEIRF fund guidance to find out if you’re eligible to apply.

Funding for 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

More information is available on the FIP website.

Direct payments and lump sum payments

BPS 2023

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

To receive a payment for 2023, you should read the BPS 2023 scheme rules.

Delinked payments is replacing BPS

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.

Lump Sum Exit Scheme

Information for famers who applied for a lump sum to leave or retire from farming. The scheme closed on 30 September 2022.

Published 9 March 2022
Last updated 1420 DecemberFebruary 20232024 + show all updates

  1. Page has been updated to include to more detail on the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) and closure of the Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2). References to the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF) have been removed. The Farming Transformation Fund grants are now known as Farming Investment Fund (FIF) grants.

  2. Guidance for Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant added for the first stage of the application process that opens in January 2024.

  3. The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund opens for the third round of applications on 11 December.

  4. The Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant checker has now closed.

  5. Slurry Infrastructure grant: round 2 eligibility checker now open.

  6. Water Management Grant is now closed.

  7. Species Survival Fund closed on 26 October 2023.

  8. Added guidance links to closed schemes: Basic Payment Scheme and Lump Sum Exit Scheme for those who have applied.

  9. SFI now open to all eligible applicants.

  10. Round 2 of the Slurry Infrastructure grant is expected to open in November. Landscape Recovery scheme has closed.

  11. We have updated the information on who can apply for the SFI annual health and welfare review funding.

  12. Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant is open to check if you're eligible to apply.

  13. Added 2 woodland grants: Great Northumberland Forest and Forest of Cornwall and a link to the Forestry Commission campaign site.

  14. You can now apply for an SFI annual health and welfare review if you're eligible to do so.

  15. Updated the Water Management grant which is at Stage 2 for notified applicants successful at Stage 1.

  16. Details of the Calf Housing and Welfare grant published.

  17. Update grant value sentence for SFI from 'between £10 - £989 per hectare, depending on action ' to 'between £10 - £732 per hectare, depending on action'.

  18. Content on this page has been restructured to show grants and funding open or opening soon for applications, closing dates and grant value information.

  19. Added Sustainable Farming Incentive information for 2023 applications opening later this summer.

  20. The information about Landscape Recovery has been updated to reflect the round two focus. A link to the guidance and to apply has also been added.

  21. Updated information on the New Entrant Support Scheme.

  22. Updated to include current and future funding available to farmers and land managers.

  23. Restructured page to make it clearer what funding options are available to farmers, land managers and foresters.

  24. A link to more information about the sustainable farming incentive has been added.

  25. First published.

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