Every SFI 2026 action, its payment rate, and a guide to each
Every action in the SFI 2026 offer, with the payment rate straight from GOV.UK and a plain English page on each. Sort the table by what an action pays. We check the rates every morning, and each page says when its rate was last looked at. The actions that have left the offer are in the list too, marked, with the rate that applied when they closed.
Rules that run across the actions
Not everything is about one action. These pages explain a rule or a change that runs across a lot of them.
- SFI limited area calculatorWork out how much of your farm can go into the limited area actions, counting what you already hold. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
- SFI payment rates 2026What the actions pay, the best by land type, what has left the offer since SFI 2024, and the 25 per cent rule.
- Before you apply, an SFI26 Window 2 checklistWindow 2 is expected to open from 22 September, with no fixed closing date. What to check on your own agreements first, how the 25 per cent limit is counted, who can apply early, and the sums worth doing before the application service opens.
- The SFI 25 per cent limit, explainedSome SFI actions can only go on a quarter of your farm. Which actions are limited, how the 25 per cent is worked out, how existing agreements count against it, and what it means for planning a Window 2 application.
- The SFI actions that left the offerA set of actions from the SFI 2024 expanded offer is not in the SFI 2026 offer. What that means if you hold one, what replaced each where anything did, and where the full guide to each action lives.
| Code | Action | Pays | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGF1 | Maintain very low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive landKeep an existing very low density in-field agroforestry system going, an average of 30 to 50 trees per hectare in rows or a grid, replacing dead trees, protecting them from stock and pests, weeding the young ones, and pruning the established ones. | £248 | 3 years |
| AGF2 | Maintain low density in-field agroforestry on less sensitive landKeep an existing low density in-field agroforestry system going, an average of 51 to 130 trees per hectare, replacing dead trees, protecting them from stock and pests, weeding the young ones, and pruning the established ones. | £385 | 3 years |
| AHW1 | Bumblebird mixno longer publishedThe bumblebird mix: one sown stand feeding both the birds and the bees, at least six flower species and six seed-bearing crops together, kept to the end of its second summer then re-established. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £747 | 3 years |
| AHW2 | Supplementary winter bird foodSpreading a seed mix on the ground once a week through the back end of winter, when the sown bird food has run out. | £732per tonne (maximum 1 tonne for every 2 hectares of CAHL2) | 3 years |
| AHW3 | Beetle banksA raised earth ridge through the middle of a field, sown to tussocky grass and left alone. | £764 | 3 years |
| AHW4 | Skylark plotsUndrilled patches left inside a winter cereal crop so skylarks can get in and out to nest. | £11per plot per year, minimum 2 plots per hectare | 3 years |
| AHW5 | Nesting plots for lapwingA fallow cultivated plot inside an arable crop, left bare and undisturbed from early spring until after harvest, sited well away from anything a predator can sit on. | £765 | 3 years |
| AHW6 | Basic overwinter stubbleLeave the stubble after a cereal, oilseed rape or linseed crop standing until around mid-February, and put nothing on it in between. | £58 | 3 years |
| AHW7 | Enhanced overwinter stubbleLeave the stubble after a cereal, oilseed rape or linseed crop standing until around mid-summer the following year, and do almost nothing to it. | £589 | 3 years |
| AHW8 | Whole crop spring cereals and overwinter stubbleGrow a spring cereal, cut it as whole crop silage rather than combining it, take the grain and straw off together, and then leave the stubble standing through the autumn and winter. | £596 | 3 years |
| AHW9 | Unharvested cereal headlandSow a spring cereal round the outer edges of the field at a reduced seed rate, in strips no more than about 24 metres wide, and leave it standing unharvested until around mid-February. | £1,072 | 3 years |
| AHW10 | Low input harvested cereal cropDrill an autumn or spring cereal in strips or plots at a reduced seed rate, keep it open enough for wildflowers and birds to use, and then harvest it as normal. | £354 | 3 years |
| AHW11 | Cultivated areas for arable plantsCultivate a fallow margin or plot in spring or autumn to a fine surface, then leave it completely alone until the end of the summer and let whatever is in the soil seed bank come up. | £660 | 3 years |
| AHW12 | Manage woodland edges on arable landno longer publishedLet a strip of up to 6 metres between your arable land and native woodland regenerate naturally into a mosaic of scrub and grass, and leave it be. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £428per hectare of strip per year, the strip up to 6 metres wide | 3 years |
| BFS1 | 12m to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated landA grass buffer strip 12 to 24 metres wide alongside a ditch, pond, river or stream, on cultivated land you have identified as being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. | £707 | 3 years |
| BFS6 | 6m to 12m habitat strip next to watercoursesA strip 6 to 12 metres wide next to a ditch, river, stream or canal, established as native trees and scrub with an open canopy and tussocky grass between, and kept clear of livestock and traffic. | £742 | 3 years |
| BND1 | Maintain dry stone wallsKeep your dry stone walls in good condition: walk them at least once a year, note what needs repair, fix it within 12 months in the local style, and keep the stiles, sheep creeps and top stones as they are. | £27per 100 metres of wall for both sides per year | 3 years |
| BND2 | Maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedgebanksKeep your earth banks and stone-faced hedgebanks in good condition: check them at least once a year, repair what needs it within 12 months, work in the right weather and never over nesting birds, and keep the built features as they are. | £11per 100 metres of bank for one side per year | 3 years |
| CAHL1 | Pollen and nectar flower mixA grass-free flower mix, sown in a block or a strip, kept flowering from late spring through the summer, with no fertiliser and effectively no pesticide. | £739 | 3 years |
| CAHL2 | Winter bird food on arable and horticultural landYou grow a seed mix of at least six small seed-bearing crops instead of a cash crop, and leave it standing so farmland birds can feed on it through the winter. | £648 | 3 years |
| CAHL3 | Grassy field corners or blocksTake an awkward field corner or block out of cropping and keep it as an intact grass sward, left to go tussocky, for the whole three years. | £590 | 3 years |
| CAHL4 | 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural landA permanent grass strip along a field edge, kept as an intact sward all year, with no fertiliser and effectively no pesticide. | £515 | 3 years |
| CHRW1 | Assess and record hedgerow conditionno longer publishedYou assess the condition of every hedgerow you enter, write it down as a hedgerow condition assessment record, then review and update that record in each of the three years, paid per 100 metres for one side of the hedge. It has left the SFI offer, so this page is for farmers who already hold it. | £5per 100 metres for one side of an eligible hedgerow per year | 3 years |
| CHRW2 | Manage hedgerowsYou manage each hedgerow in one of four ways, incremental cutting, a two or three year cutting rotation, or coppicing and laying, so hedges grow with a range of heights and widths, and you are paid per 100 metres of hedge side each year. | £13per 100 metres for one side of an eligible hedgerow per year | 3 years |
| CHRW3 | Maintain or establish hedgerow treesno longer publishedYou keep an average of at least one hedgerow tree per 100 metres across the hedges you enter, by looking after the trees you have or establishing new ones, and you are paid per 100 metres of hedgerow each year. | £10per 100 metres for both sides of an eligible hedgerow per year | 3 years |
| CIGL1 | Take grassland field corners or blocks out of managementYou take corners or blocks of grassland out of management altogether, uncut, ungrazed and unfertilised, so tussocky grass builds up as year-round habitat and a home for the insects that work your fields. | £333 | 3 years |
| CIGL2 | Winter bird food on improved grasslandYou manage improved grassland so the grass runs up and sets seed, cutting silage or hay in a way that lets seed form and leaving the aftermath ungrazed, so the standing seed feeds farmland birds through autumn and winter. | £515 | 3 years |
| CIGL3 | 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on improved grasslandA grass buffer strip of 4 to 12 metres along the features of a grass field, hedgerows, walls, ditches, watercourses, woodland or historic features, kept as an intact sward all year, grazeable but never cut for hay or silage, with nothing applied to it. | £235 | 3 years |
| CIPM1 | Assess integrated pest management and produce a planno longer publishedA BASIS qualified adviser, or you if you hold the qualification, assesses how you currently manage pests, weeds and diseases and produces a written integrated pest management plan, reviewed each year of the agreement. | £1,129for the assessment and plan per year | 3 years |
| CIPM2 | Flower-rich grass margins, blocks or in-field stripsYou establish a mix of grasses and wildflowers in margins, blocks or in-field strips, flowering from spring to early autumn, kept for the agreement as habitat for pollinators and for the insects that eat crop pests. | £798 | 3 years |
| CIPM3 | Companion crop on arable and horticultural landGrow a second species alongside the cash crop, by trap cropping, inter-cropping or undersowing. | £55 | 3 years, done in each year |
| CIPM4 | No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent cropsGrow a cash crop as you otherwise would, but put no insecticide on it, seed dressings included. | £45 | 3 years |
| CLIG3 | Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputsYou run grassland on very low nutrient inputs, capped at the equivalent of 12 tonnes of cattle muck a hectare, grazing or cutting it so flowering grasses and wildflowers come through and the sward varies in height into autumn. | £151 | 3 years |
| CNUM1 | Assess nutrient management and produce a review reportno longer publishedA FACTS qualified adviser visits the farm, assesses how you currently use nutrients from both bag and organic sources, and produces a written review report, reviewed each year of the agreement. | £652for the assessment and review report per year | 3 years |
| CNUM2 | Legumes on improved grasslandGet legumes, clovers, sainfoin, lucerne or bird's foot trefoil, established and kept going in improved grassland, either oversown into the existing sward or sown as a fresh grass and legume mix, then graze or cut as usual. | £102 | 3 years |
| CNUM3 | Legume fallowA fallow sown to a mix of at least six flowering species including legumes, left standing rather than cropped. | £532 | 3 years |
| CSAM1 | Assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matterno longer publishedThe soil assessment action: assess the soil on every entered parcel, write a soil management plan, and test soil organic matter on a rolling five year cycle. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £6per hectare per year, plus £97 per SFI agreement per year | 3 years |
| CSAM2 | Multi-species winter cover cropYou grow a cover crop of at least two species from two or more plant families in the gap between cash crops, keep it well established over winter, and destroy it in time for the crop that follows. | £129 | 3 years |
| CSAM3 | Herbal leysA multi-species ley of grasses, legumes and herbs, which you can graze and cut. | £224 | 3 years |
| GRH7 | Supplement: HaymakingA supplement on top of the very low nutrient inputs action: make the field a traditional hay meadow, no grazing or cutting for at least 8 weeks of spring and summer, a hay cut no earlier than late June, uncut margins left, the crop field-dried, turned and carried. | £157per hectare per year, on top of the base action it supplements | 3 years |
| GRH8 | Supplement: Haymaking (late cut)The later, richer version of the haymaking supplement: at least 9 weeks closed before the cut, harvest typically from mid-July, wildflowers allowed to flower and set seed, margins left, the hay field-dried, turned and carried. | £187per hectare per year, on top of the base action it supplements | 3 years |
| GRH10 | Supplement: Lenient grazingA small supplement on the very low nutrient inputs action: graze with cattle, or cattle and sheep, lightly enough that the sward carries a mix of shorter and taller grass, and never cut it for hay or silage. | £28per hectare per year, on top of the base action it supplements | 3 years |
| GRH12 | Manage rough grassland for upland breeding waders (instead of GRH1: Manage rough grazing for birds which was available in the SFI24 offer)Run rough upland-fringe grassland for nesting curlew, lapwing, snipe and redshank: light stocking through the breeding season, no machinery among the nests, rushes held to scattered patches, the damp places left wet, and the growth grazed off after the birds have gone. | £203 | 3 years |
| HEF1 | Maintain weatherproof traditional farm or forestry buildingsKeep a pre-1940 traditional farm building weatherproof: check it over at least once a year, do the minor repairs like for like in traditional materials, and look after the bats, owls and kestrels that use it, boxes included where they are needed. | £5per square metre of ground floor area per year | 3 years |
| HEF6 | Manage historic and archaeological features on grasslandKeep grassland over a historic or archaeological feature as an intact, well-managed sward: minimal bare ground, scrub, bracken and pernicious weeds, no cultivation, and no feeding or traffic within about 6 metres of the feature itself. | £55 | 3 years |
| OFA1 | Overwinter stubble (organic land)no longer publishedOverwinter stubble for organic land: leave the stubble, establish a green cover crop on it, and hold both through to mid-February, on ground registered organic or in conversion. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £264 | 3 years |
| OFA6 | Undersown cereal crop (organic land)no longer publishedUndersown cereals for organic land: by late spring, an autumn or spring cereal is undersown with grass or a flower-rich legume ley, every year of the action. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £380 | 3 years |
| OFC1 | Organic conversion – improved permanent grasslandThe conversion payment for improved grassland going organic: farm it to organic standards under your control body's approved plan through the conversion period, and register it fully organic before the action ends. | £187per hectare per year during conversion | 1 year, applied for in up to 2 consecutive years to cover the conversion period |
| OFC2 | Organic conversion – unimproved permanent grasslandThe conversion payment for unimproved grassland and rough grazing going organic, the family's lowest rate for the land whose management changes least. | £96per hectare per year during conversion | 1 year, applied for in up to 2 consecutive years to cover the conversion period |
| OFC3 | Organic conversion – rotational landThe conversion payment for arable ground going organic: farm the land to organic standards under your control body's approved plan through the conversion period, at conventional prices, and this pays the bridge. | £298per hectare per year during conversion | 1 year, applied for in up to 2 consecutive years to cover the conversion period |
| OFC4 | Organic conversion – horticultural landThe conversion payment for vegetable and salad ground going organic, the family's second highest rate for the land where conversion costs most per hectare. | £874per hectare per year during conversion | 1 year, applied for in up to 2 consecutive years to cover the conversion period |
| OFC5 | Organic conversion – top fruitThe conversion payment for orchards and bush fruit going organic, the family's highest rate over its longest period, up to three years, to match how long fruit takes to convert. | £1,920per hectare per year during conversion | 1 year, applied for in up to 3 consecutive years to cover the conversion period |
| OFM1 | Organic land management – improved permanent grasslandThe maintenance payment for organic improved grassland: keep the fully organic registration and comply with your control body's standards, at the family's smallest rate. | £20 | 3 years |
| OFM2 | Organic land management – unimproved permanent grasslandThe maintenance payment for organic unimproved grassland and rough grazing: keep the fully organic registration and comply with your control body's standards. | £41 | 3 years |
| OFM3 | Organic land management – enclosed rough grazingThe maintenance payment for organic enclosed rough grazing in the uplands: small enclosed parcels above the moorland line, fully organic registration held and standards kept. | £97 | 3 years |
| OFM4 | Organic land management – rotational landThe maintenance payment for organic arable land: hold the fully organic registration, comply with your control body's standards, and this pays on every registered rotational hectare. | £132 | 3 years |
| OFM5 | Organic land management – horticultural landThe maintenance payment for organic vegetable and salad ground: keep the fully organic registration, grow at least one horticultural crop per parcel per year, and comply with your control body's standards. | £707 | 3 years |
| OFM6 | Organic land management – top fruitThe maintenance payment for organic orchards and bush fruit: keep the fully organic registration and standards, protect the trees, at the family's highest rate. | £1,920 | 3 years |
| PRF1 | Variable rate application of nutrientsYou apply all your major nutrients, bag and organic alike, through variable rate equipment driven by zonal soil testing, remote sensing or crop sensors, so rates vary across the field to match what the crop needs. | £27 | 3 years |
| PRF2 | Camera or remote sensor guided herbicide sprayingYou apply your systemic herbicides through camera or sensor guided equipment that recognises the weeds and switches individual nozzles on over them, spraying the weed rather than the field. | £43 | 3 years |
| PRF3 | Non-mechanical robotic weedingno longer publishedControl weeds in a crop with a robot that finds them and destroys them with a laser or high voltage electricity, using no herbicides beyond a pre-emergence residual at establishment. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £101 | 3 years |
| PRF4 | Mechanical robotic weedingControl weeds in a row crop with a robot guided by cameras or GPS whose hoes physically remove the weeds, between and within the rows, using no herbicides beyond a pre-emergence residual at establishment. | £150 | 3 years |
| SCR1 | Create scrub and open habitat mosaicsTurn a parcel with little or no scrub into a mosaic of scrub, grass and flowering plants, by natural regeneration or planting native species or both, until scrub stands on 10 to 60 per cent of it, with deadwood and old trees left where they are. | £588 | 3 years |
| SCR2 | Manage scrub and open habitat mosaicsKeep an existing scrub mosaic alive and varied: dense and scattered scrub held between 10 and 60 per cent of the area, managed by patchy cutting or light cattle grazing, with open flowery ground between, deadwood left lying and no sheep. | £350 | 3 years |
| SOH1 | No-till farmingYou sow all your seed with a direct drill or by broadcasting, with no ploughing and no cultivation between harvest and sowing, on the same land for the whole agreement. | £73 | 3 years |
| SOH2 | Multi-species spring-sown cover cropno longer publishedYou sow a cover crop of at least four species in the spring months to fill a gap between cash crops, keep it growing with minimal bare soil, and destroy it no more than two weeks before the next crop is sown. | £163 | 3 years |
| SOH3 | Multi-species summer-sown cover cropYou sow a fast-growing cover crop of at least four species in the summer months after harvest, keep it growing until the next main crop or a winter cover takes over, and destroy it no more than two weeks before the next crop is sown. | £163 | 3 years |
| SPM3 | Supplement: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats (more than 80%)A supplement for grazing your low-input grassland with rare native breeds: across each grazing season, more than 80 per cent of the livestock units on the land must be breeds in the at-risk category of the UK native breeds support list, pedigree-registered and provable. | £146per hectare per year, on top of the base action it supplements | 3 years |
| SPM5 | Supplement: Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats (more than 80%)The extensive-ground twin of the native breeds supplement: on moorland, scrub mosaics and other extensively managed habitats, more than 80 per cent of the grazing livestock units must be at-risk breeds from the UK native breeds support list, at a rate sized for big rough hectares. | £11per hectare per year, on top of the base action it supplements | 3 years |
| UPL1 | Moderate livestock grazing on moorlandGraze moorland at a moderate density, never more than 0.16 grazing livestock units per hectare, with no feeding beyond mineral licks, and a written stocking calendar produced at the start of each year. | £35 | 3 years |
| UPL2 | Low livestock grazing on moorlandThe middle tier of the moorland grazing family: livestock density held at no more than 0.08 grazing livestock units per hectare at any time, with the same feeding rules and written stocking calendar as its siblings. | £89 | 3 years |
| UPL3 | Limited livestock grazing on moorlandThe top tier of the moorland grazing family: livestock density held at no more than 0.04 grazing livestock units per hectare at any time, the moor grazed only just, with the family's feeding rules and written stocking calendar. | £111 | 3 years |
| UPL5 | Supplement: Keep cattle and ponies on moorland (minimum 70% GLU)A supplement on the moorland grazing actions for running the right mouths: at least 70 per cent of the grazing livestock units on the entered land must be cattle or ponies, whose grazing builds the varied structure sheep alone cannot. | £18per hectare per year, on top of the grazing action it supplements | 3 years |
| UPL6 | Supplement: Keep cattle and ponies on moorland (100% GLU)The all-in version of the cattle and ponies supplement: every grazing livestock unit on the moorland grazing action must be cattle or ponies, at a higher rate than the 70 per cent version. | £23per hectare per year, on top of the grazing action it supplements | 3 years |
| UPL8 | Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 4 months)Shepherd the moor rather than just stock it: all livestock except resident ponies off for at least 4 consecutive calendar months a year, and while stock graze, keep them herded away from the features that grazing damages. | £74 | 3 years |
| UPL10 | Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for at least 8 months)The long-rest version of the shepherding action: all livestock except resident ponies off the moor for at least 8 consecutive calendar months a year, and actively herded away from sensitive features in the months they are on. | £102 | 3 years |
| WBD1 | Manage pondsKeep your farm ponds as good wildlife habitat, controlling scrub gently around the edge, keeping livestock from clouding the water, and leaving the pond itself, its profile, and what lives in it alone. | £257per pond per year, for up to 3 ponds per hectare | 3 years |
| WBD2 | Manage ditchesManage the farm ditches gently and infrequently, cutting the bank tops in rotation, touching the channel itself at most once in three years, and only working on them between autumn and early spring. | £4per 100 metres of ditch for both sides per year | 3 years |
| WBD3 | In-field grass stripsYou put a permanent grass strip across erosion or runoff-prone arable ground, along the contour or a natural drainage line, keep it as an intact sward all year with no inputs and no stock, and cut it once in late summer. | £765 | 3 years |
| WBD4 | Arable reversion to grassland with low fertiliser inputTake arable land that is at risk of erosion or runoff, or that buffers a watercourse or sensitive habitat, and put it into a sown grass sward for three years, with low fertiliser inputs, no autumn or winter grazing, and the sward kept dense year round. | £489 | 3 years |
| WBD5 | Manage intensive grassland adjacent to a watercourseno longer publishedThe five year watercourse sward: intensive sloping grassland beside water re-sown with a five grass species mix, held intact year round, grazed and cut in season, empty of stock and starved of nitrogen through the wet months. Not in the SFI 2026 offer; for existing agreement holders. | £311 | 5 years |
| WBD6 | Remove livestock from intensive grassland during the autumn and winter (outside SDAs)Take every animal off intensive grassland that drains straight into a watercourse for at least 5 consecutive autumn and winter months, so the wet months do not turn the field into a compacted, poached source of runoff. | £115 | 3 years |
| WBD7 | Remove livestock from grassland during the autumn and winter (SDAs)The Severely Disadvantaged Area version of the winter livestock removal: every animal off grassland that drains into a watercourse for the whole of autumn and winter, usually early October to mid-March. | £115 | 3 years |
Rates are per hectare per year unless the row says otherwise, as published on GOV.UK. Last checked 19/09/2026.