Scheme News Across the Regions November 10, 2026 1:30 pm England In a recent Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) webinar, Mike Rowe, Director General for Food and Farming at Defra, responded to farmers’ concerns following the SFI26 Window 2. He acknowledged that the ‘simple problem’ was the money Defra had for new agreements was just not enough to manage the demand. This had been exacerbated by the gap between the sudden, early closure of SFI24 and the opening of SFI26 and also by allowing those with agreements due to expire by 28th February 2027, to start an application early. On the latter he said this was something they would have to learn from going forward – what this quite means, he didn’t expand on. He did however confirm Ministers are already committed to move away from the first-come, first-served approach and they would work with Stakeholders to come up with a better system. While Mr Rowe confirmed nothing had been finalised on this, he outlined a number of options that were being considered these include; Filtering applications up front, setting out who might come into the scheme in what sort of priority Looking at scoring application Further reducing the number of actions on offer and lowering payment rates, so the budget goes further Supporting actions on a % of the individual farm holding Looking again at the overall agreement cap, currently set at £100,000 for SFI26. All of the above will have their winners and losers. Mr Rowe did go on to say that Defra will continue to set out as early in the year as possible what the SFI27 offer will look like and what farmers might expect. Wales To help ease cash-flow pressures, advanced payments under the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) Universal Layer and the BPS are being increased. Usually advanced payments are 70% of the estimated eligible claim value. For 2026, these rise to 80% and commenced from 14th October. Balance payments will be made from 11th December after final checks have finished. For those participating in the SFS, they will need to complete their SFS Universal Dashboard, confirming they have completed all the applicable Universal Actions, before the balance payment will be made. The Infrastructure and Equipment scheme opened on 29th October. This is part of the Optional Layer of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and replaces the previous Nutrient Management Investment Scheme. It provides capital grants towards larger-scale items such as slurry storage, silage storage, roofing over yards, slurry transfer systems, slurry spreading equipment and other nutrient management infrastructure. These are all listed in the technical guidance via https://www.gov.wales/sfs-optional-infrastructure-and-equipment-technical-guidance-html. It has a minimum grant of £12,000 up to a maximum of £50,000 at 40% or 50% of total cost, depending on the item. General Scheme Guidance can be found via https://www.gov.wales/sfs-optional-infrastructure-and-equipment-general-guidance-html . Scotland The Scottish Government has released updated Scheme Guidance and the Capital Investment Guide for the second round of the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS). There have been some rule changes as many missed out in the first round. Following feedback, applicants must now choose from a pre defined list of eligible items, this is now available and can be viewed at https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/ffis/future-farming-investment-scheme/capital-investment-guide/. There will be a set application window which is expected to be announced in November but there will be no advantage in applying on day one. Applications will be assessed and ranked using published scoring criteria, rather than priority groups. Funding is competitive, so meeting the eligibility requirements will not guarantee an award. The full guidance can be found at https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/ffis/future-farming-investment-scheme/. Applicants must generally have submitted a 2026 Single Application Form by 15th May. Successful businesses will need to complete the approved investments within nine months of the grant offer. At the NFU Scotland’s Autumn Conference on 29th October, the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs, Gillian Martin, confirmed several important commitments for the sector. These included a further round of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) in 2027 and confirmation that the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) will continue until 2029. However, there was also an announcement of tighter eligibility requirements for suckler beef support, with the calving interval threshold set to reduce from 410 to 400 days in 2028 and 2029. The latter is subject to legislation being passed and NFU Scotland has expressed concern about the announcement being made without prior consultation with the industry.
