A flagship nature-friendly farming payments scheme will reopen in June – focusing more support on smaller farms, the Environment Secretary is set to announce today.

The Government provoked fury last March with the abrupt closure of the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers in England for “public goods” such as insecticide-free farming, wildflower strips and managing hedgerows, as funding had been fully allocated for the year.

There has been ongoing uncertainty since then over the future of the SFI, a key strand in the environmental land management schemes (Elms) which replaced agricultural subsidies after Brexit, as the Government sought to reform the programme.

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference today, Emma Reynolds is set to announce reforms to the SFI which aim to simplify the scheme, level the playing field, and provide more predictable and stable delivery of funding.

There will be two application windows in 2026, the first from June prioritising smaller farms and those without an existing agreement, followed by a second round from September for wider applications, she will announce.

The Environment Secretary will also outline a new £30 million farmer collaboration fund, to support farmer groups to boost their businesses and work in partnership.

Richard Broadbent, environmental law director at Freeths, said:

“The strength of the farming community’s response to the abrupt withdrawal of the SFI last Mark, and the subsequent partial U‑turn by Defra before the scheme fully closed in August, underlined just how vital this funding is for both farmers and nature. Reinstating it is an important step in recognising the central role agricultural businesses play in managing many of England’s most valuable natural habitats.

"A large proportion of England’s protected sites sit within working farms, and Defra’s own 2024 figures show that nearly half of SSSIs rely on agri‑environment schemes such as Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship and the SFI. These schemes are therefore essential to safeguarding habitats that are, in many cases, in worrying condition. The Office for Environmental Protection reported last year that only 33.5% of SSSIs were in favourable condition as of September 2025, with more than 20% either stagnating or declining.

"However, as the OEP also highlighted, current funding models, including the SFI, tend to reward one‑off enhancements rather than the long‑term maintenance that is critical for ecological recovery. Short, three‑year agreements do not reflect the decade‑long cycles often needed to restore and sustain healthy habitats. This can unintentionally encourage farmers to delay improvements until new funding rounds open, rather than supporting consistent, year‑on‑year management.

"Reopening the SFI and introducing a new collaboration fund are positive moves, but they must be accompanied by a shift towards long‑term, outcome‑focused support. Only with stable, sustained investment can we expect to halt and reverse the decline of England’s most precious natural sites.”