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 and supporting capital items.

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 Higher Tier (CSHT)

CSHT pays farmers and land managers to manage land in a way that:

• protects, restores or enhances the environment
• mitigates the effects of climate change

CSHT can be done on woodland, farmed land, land managed for nature or a combination of these. This includes important environmental or historic sites, such as:

• sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)
• commons
• woodlands
• scheduled monuments

CSHT will roll out in a controlled way by invitation, so everyone gets the right level of support.

Natural England or the Forestry Commission (or both) will provide the relevant pre-application advice from January 2025 to enable the farmers and land managers to prepare an application.

You cannot apply for CSHT until you receive an invitation to get pre-application advice from Natural England or the Forestry Commission.

Read the preview guidance for CSHT that explains what you can do now to prepare to apply and what funding will be available.

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

4. Capital items

You can get paid for capital items to help you carry out management actions. 

See Capital items: guidance for applicants and agreement holders for more information.

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)

Read the guidance for Water Management round 2 applicants.

Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2)

Read the guidance for Slurry Infrastructure round 2 applicants.

Adding Value grant

The Adding Value grant is closed.

Improving Farm Productivity grant (round 2)

Read the guidance for Improving Farm Productivity round 2 applicants.

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.

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.

Improve animal health and welfare

Get funding to improve animal health and welfare

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

Read the funding to improve animal health and welfare: guidance for farmers and vets.

Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant (round 1)

Egg production farmers can apply for a grant to add a veranda onto, or upgrade or replace, existing laying hen or pullet housing to improve animal health and welfare.

Read the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare guidance to find out how to submit your full application.

Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant

Read the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant guidance to find out about how to submit your full application.

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

Delinked payments replaced Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments in 2024. The 2023 scheme year was the last year of BPS.

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