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

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme pays farmers and land managers to take up or maintain sustainable farming and land management practices that:

• protect and benefit the environment
• support food production
• improve productivity

These practices are referred to as ‘SFI actions’.

If you and your land are eligible, you can apply for up to 102 SFI actions in the expanded SFI offer for 2024.

SFI agreements usually last for 3 or 5 years, depending on which SFI actions you select.

Read the SFI scheme information to apply for an SFI agreement and use the Find funding for land or farms tool to search for actions you and your land are eligible to apply for.

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.

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

Water Management grant (round 2)

Guidance for round 2 applicants. If you’ve been invited to make a full application, you have until 11:59pm on 31 October 2024 to submit your documents.

Guidance for round 1 applicants. Round 1 of the Water Management grant is closed.

Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2)

Guidance for round 2 applicants. If you’ve been invited to make a full application, you have until 11:59pm on 30 September 2024 to submit your slurry store location and design assessment form.

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

The Adding Value grant is closed.

Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant

Read the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant guidance to find out about the next stage of the application process. If you’ve been invited to submit an Ambient Environment Location and Design (AELD) form, you have until 11:59pm on 30 April 2024 to submit this.

Improving Farm Productivity grant (round 2)

Read the Improving Farm Productivity Round 2 grant guidance to find out about the next stage of the application process.

Round 1 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant is closed.

Improve water quality and air quality

CS offers

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.

Water Restoration Fund

You can apply for a Water Restoration Fund (WRF) grant to fund projects that restore, improve and prevent further deterioration of:

• rivers and their headwaters (including chalk streams)
• canals
• lakes
• ponds
• wetlands - both freshwater and saltwater
• estuarine waters

You can apply for 2 types of awards for projects starting from July 2024.

Development awards

Short-term grants to build capability and help you design and plan future projects. The project length should be 6 to 12 months.

Delivery awards

Medium to long-term grants to help you carry out projects you’ve already planned. The project length should be 12 to 30 months. Your project should begin as soon as possible after receiving a grant funding agreement.

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

Further information is available on the Heritage Fund website.

Farming in protected landscapes

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.

ImproveProtect animal health and welfare

SFI annual health and welfare review

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.

FETF Animal Health and Welfare grant

You can apply for up to £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items as part of the FETF 2024.

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.

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:

• England’s Community Forests – 13 local Community Forests across the country
• The Northern Forest – in parts of Lancashire, Merseyside, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
• The National Forest - right in the heart of the country, covering 200 square miles of the Midlands
• Forest for Cornwall – across Cornwall
• Great Northumberland Forest – across Northumberland

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

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 2024 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.

Attract private investment in nature projects

The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) offers grants to help farmers attract private investment in nature projects, such as selling carbon units through peatland restoration. Read the NEIRF fund guidance for more information.

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.

Delinked payments and lump sum payments

Delinked payments

From 2024, delinked payments are replacing payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The 2023 scheme year was the last year of BPS.

Delinked payments will be made each year from 2024 until 2027.

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.