Mid-tier agreements under Countryside Stewardship, due to expire at the end of this year, will be extended for a further 12 months. Defra has announced that those Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier (CSMT) agreements due to expire on 31st December 2025 will be rolled-over on the same terms and payment rates. With no SFI available, or even any information on what and when new schemes might be available, agreement holders would have been left with no funding for their environmental work.
The RPA will write to eligible farmers with details about the extension offer over the next few weeks. Anyone with a CSMT expiring on 31st December, who has not heard by 6th November should contact the RPA. The extension agreement will continue under the same rules, terms and conditions as the existing CSMT agreement – it will not be possible to amend, add or delete options. The letter will contain details of how to accept the extension which must be made by 27th November 2025.
Defra said details of the ‘revised’ SFI offer would be available in ‘summer’ 2025, but nothing has been announced yet. We do not expect any scheme to be available until April 2026 at the earliest. The longer the wait for details goes on, the more likely it is that it will be even later in 2026 before the scheme reopens. We hope to get some detail soon to help with planning and budgeting – those who entered SFI in 2023 when it first opened only have one year left to run on their agreements.
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