Sustainable Farming Incentive applications Window 2 September 2026
Published 25 September 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sfi-uptake-september-2026-window-2/sustainable-farming-incentive-applications-window-2-september-2026
1. Main Messages
- Around 12,200 applications were submitted during Window 2
- The five most popular SFI 2026 actions in Window 2 were Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (CLIG3), Manage Hedgerows (CHRW2), Herbal leys (CSAM3), Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land (CAHL2) , and No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops (CIPM4).
- Approximately 72% of applications in Window 2 were from farm businesses with existing agri-environment scheme agreements that are due to expire by February 2027
2. Applications
Approximately 12,200 applications were submitted during Window 2. This is nearly twice as many as were submitted in window 1, which saw around 6,700 applications.
Around 8,800 of those farmers have an agreement under Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship or the Sustainable Farming Incentive that is due to expire on or before 28 February 2027.
Around 10% of applications in Window 2 were from farm businesses that do not have an existing agreement under Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship or the Sustainable Farming Incentive. This is a similar percentage to Window 1.
Around 72% of applications in Window 2 were from businesses with an agri-environment scheme agreement that is due to expire by February 2027. In Window 1, only 4% of applications came from this group.
About 21% of applications in Window 2 were from farm businesses with between 3 and 50 hectares of associated agricultural land. This is compared to 68% in Window 1.
3. Top 5 actions
This table shows the top 5 actions, according to the number of applications that contained that action.
| Action code | Action name | Number of applications containing the action | Percentage of applications containing the action |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLIG3 | Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs | 7,415 | 60.8 |
| CHRW2 | Manage hedgerows | 4,310 | 35.3 |
| CSAM3 | Herbal leys | 3,370 | 27.6 |
| CAHL2 | Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land | 2,657 | 21.8 |
| CIPM4 | No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops | 2,621 | 21.5 |
Source: SFI Window 2 applications
CLIG3, CHRW2, and CSAM3 were also amongst the 5 most popular actions (by agreement count) in Window 1.
4. Agreement values
As of 24th September 2026, the average agreement value for SFI26 window one is £28,000. This covers 5,752 live agreements.
The mean value of agreements under SFI23 and SFI expanded offer is £56,000. This is double the value in SFI26.
Similarly to other agri-environment schemes including previous versions of SFI, in SFI26 the median agreement value is considerably lower than the mean. This indicates that agreement values are skewed towards lower values, with a smaller number of higher-value agreements increasing the average.
The 90th percentile agreement value is £63,000 in SFI26, compared with £126,000 under previous versions of the scheme. This means that 90% of agreements in SFI26 Window 1 were worth no more than £63,000.
The value below which 90% of agreements fall has reduced from £126,000 in SFI23 and SFI expanded offer to £63,000 in SFI 2026. This suggests that there are fewer very high-value agreements in SFI26. There is an annual value limit of £100,000 per year for SFI26 agreements.
These figures may change considerably as more SFI26 agreements become live.
Additional information about SFI agreement values is available in the SFI spend statistics notice January 2026 - GOV.UK.