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
218 SeptemberAugust 2025 — See all updates

Applies to England

Defra is looking for farmers, growers and land managers to join a user panel to help improve guidance and services on GOV.UK. Find out more information and how to take part in research sessions.

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 SFI isexpanded nowoffer for 2024 (SFI 2024) re-opened for applications from certain eligible applicants, who the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) wrote to. For all other farmers and land managers, SFI remains closed for applications.
Please read the Written Ministerial Statement on the UK Parliament website for more information.


The re-opened SFI 2024 offer closed for applications at 11:59pm on Monday 18 August 2025. Any applications received after this deadline will be rejected. The only exception to this is eligible applicants who receive written notification from the RPA that they qualify for a deadline extension. If this is the case, eligible applicants must submit their SFI 2024 application by 11:59pm on 1 September 2025.

SFI 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.

2. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT)

Opens: September 2025.
Grant value: amounts vary depending land management actions included in your CSHT agreement.

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) have been providing 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

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

4. Capital items

You can get paid for capital items to help you carry out management actions and improve environmental outcomes. 

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

Capital Grants is now closed for applications.

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) 2025 has 3 grants to help you buy items to:  

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

Grant value: between £1,000 and £25,000 for each grant theme.
Closing date: now closed.

Water Management grant (round 2)

Grant value: between £35,000 and £500,000.
Closing date: now closed.

The Water Management round 2 is now closed.

Slurry Infrastructure grant (round 2)

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

Read the guidance for Slurry Infrastructure round 2 applicants.

Adding Value grant

Grant value: between £25,000 and £300,000.
Closing date: now closed.

The Adding Value grant is closed.

Improving Farm Productivity grant (round 2)

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: applicationsinvited areapplicants nowhave closed.until 11.59pm on 31 July 2025 to submit their full application.

Read the guidance for Improving Farm Productivity round 2 applicants.

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 2026.

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

Open: apply at any time of year.
Grant value: from £215 to £923 per review or follow-up depending on livestock type.

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)

Grant value: between £5,000 and £500,000.
Closing date: invited applicants have until 11.59pm on 30 January 2026 to submit their full application. 

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

Grant value: between £15,000 and £500,000.
Closing date: applicationsinvited areapplicants nowhave closed.until 11.59pm on 30 April 2025 to submit their full application.

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.

Open: all year round.
Grant value: up to £10,200 per hectare with an additional £12,700 per hectare if the woodland delivers wider benefits to society, nature recovery and the environment.

ExploreRead the Forestry Commission’s overview of whereof to find grants available for treeswoodland creation, maintenance, management and woodlandtree 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

TheThe  Woodland management plan 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 £30,500 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 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 per m3
- up to 40% of infrastructure costs

The Woodland Tree Health (WTH) grant pays you to restock or improve woodland after tree health problems.

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

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.

Updates to this page

Published 9 March 2022
Last updated 218 SeptemberAugust 2025 + show all updates

  1. SFI is now closed for applications.

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