NFU calls for funding released from existing schemes to be reinvested in a £1 billion SFI27 budget

• NFU analysis shows SFI27 needs more than £1 billion, with £960 million released from existing schemes available to be reinvested.
• Around 48,000 farmers could seek an SFI27 agreement, requiring an early opening and clear long-term plan.
• UK agricultural support was just 0.2% of GDP from 2023 to 2025, around half the OECD average.

NFU analysis shows that a budget of around £1 billion¹ is needed for SFI27 to meet expected demand from farmers and fund the environmental work required to support the government's legally binding targets. 

With around £960 million in agri-environment funding due to be freed up from expired or expiring schemes, the NFU is calling for this budget to be recycled into SFI27. The NFU's analysis shows that 48,000 farmers are eligible to apply. With strong appetite already demonstrated for SFI26, this would enable farmers to continue the environmental work they have delivered on behalf of the government and the public for many years.

NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt said: Farmers have shown in their droves that they want to take part in agri-environment schemes. The experience of SFI26 left no doubt about the strength of that demand.

For years, the government has contracted farmers to deliver the environmental work needed to underpin its legally binding targets. Farmers have committed land, time and resources to restoring hedgerows, creating buffer strips and improving soils, all while continuing to produce food.

As existing agri-environment schemes come to an end and funding is freed up, Defra must honour its side of the partnership with farmers by reinvesting that money in SFI27 and ensuring its budget matches demand. It should open the scheme in early 2027 and ensure the wider Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) are fully functioning, alongside publishing a clear ELMs strategy which would give farmers the certainty to plan and invest. When farmers invest, the benefits reach far beyond the farm gate, strengthening environmental delivery, domestic food resilience and rural communities across the country. The ball is now firmly in Defra's court.

The NFU's key asks for SFI27 have been shaped by members' responses to two SFI surveys². The NFU is calling for Defra to:

   Provide an SFI27 budget that matches farmers' ambition to deliver for the environment. The NFU estimates that a budget of more than £1 billion will be required.
   Open SFI27 in early 2027, allowing agreements to begin from 1 April 2027. Farmers whose existing agreements are expiring should be prioritised to prevent a break in environmental work.
   Allocate funding on a £/hectare basis to give as many farmers as possible access to the schemes, provided payment rates remain financially viable and properly reward farmers for the work involved.
   Urgently address the lack of access for common land to SFI and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
   Publish a plan for ELMs for the rest of this Parliament, setting out scheme opening dates and transparent budget information so farm businesses can plan ahead with confidence.

This comes as new OECD figures³ show that the UK invests significantly less in agriculture than other economies. Support amounted to just 0.2% of GDP between 2023 and 2025, around half the OECD average.

The OECD has also called for UK farmers to be given greater certainty through stable, long-term support schemes. It said clear, multi-year funding would help farmers plan how they use their land and invest in their businesses, pointing to uncertainty over future environmental payments and recent problems with the rollout of schemes in England.

Ms Munt continued: The OECD's findings underline that creating the right conditions for British farming to succeed is not simply an agricultural priority, but a national resilience imperative. A stable and predictable agricultural policy would give farm businesses the confidence to plan for the long term, withstand global shocks, produce the nation's food and continue delivering for the environment.

A properly funded SFI27 within a fully functioning environmental scheme offer, backed by a clear long-term plan, is central to providing that certainty and building a secure, resilient food system. British farmers are ready to play their part. Defra must now give them the tools and confidence to do so.

More information:
1)    NFU analysis indicates that around 48,000 farmers could be seeking an SFI27 agreement. This estimate includes farmers with SFI23, expanded SFI, Countryside Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship agreements due to expire by and in 2027, as well as those who were unsuccessful in securing an SFI26 agreement.
a)    Together, these expiring agreements and unsuccessful applications have an estimated annual value of more than £960 million. This funding is already associated with existing agri-environment agreements or demonstrated demand for SFI26 and could become available as current agreements come to an end.
b)    Based on the SFI26 eligibility rules, the NFU expects most of these farmers to be eligible for SFI27, although some agreement holders may move into Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. Demand is also likely to extend beyond those with expiring agreements or unsuccessful SFI26 applications.
c)    The NFU therefore estimates that an annual SFI27 budget of more than £1 billion will be needed to meet overall demand. For context, the NFU estimated that £520 million was needed to meet expected demand for SFI26, compared with the £310 million budget provided by Defra.
2)    The NFU conducted two surveys of members about SFI. The first gave the opportunity to feedback on SFI26 experiences, the second gave the opportunity to give feedback on the approach to application windows. 
3)    Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2026 | OECD
a)    This data also shows that UK support for general services such as knowledge, innovation, inspection and control was equivalent to 2.4% of agricultural production, compared with an OECD average of 3.6%.
   More information about the NFU's campaign activity on SFI can be found here.