Guides · SFI 2026
All grass, or a small farm: is there anything in SFI 2026?
Yes. 23 of the 71 SFI 2026 actions can go on permanent grassland below the moorland line, 6 on land above it, and 4 more on hedges, walls and other boundaries whatever is growing in the field. Whether any of them is worth the paperwork on your farm is a different question, and it takes about a minute to get a first answer.
Where SFI 2026 stands today
Window 1 closed 28 August 2026. Window 2 opened 22 September 2026 and closed that afternoon, once its budget was allocated — applications started but not submitted can't be sent. DEFRA says there will be another chance to apply for SFI in 2027. The actions and rates below are the 2026 offer. Nothing says the 2027 one will match, so check GOV.UK's SFI26 page before you plan around it.
The entry rule
You need at least 3ha of agricultural land linked to your SBI to apply. Agricultural land here means what the RPA has mapped as arable, permanent grassland or permanent crops. That 3ha is the door, not the amount you commit: there is no minimum area you have to enter into the agreement. In 2026, a farm with 50ha or less counted as a small farm and could apply in the first window.
Common land and shared grazing can't be entered.
What there is for permanent grassland
These are the actions the rules allow on a parcel the RPA has mapped as permanent grassland, below the moorland line. Rates are per year, checked against GOV.UK on 10 July 2026. Supplements are left out because they ride on a base action.
| Code | Action | Rate/year |
|---|---|---|
| CIGL3 | 4–12m grass buffer strip on improved grassland | £235/ha |
| CIGL2 | Winter bird food on improved grassland | £515/ha |
| CLIG3 | Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs | £151/ha |
| CSAM3 | Herbal leys | £224/ha |
| CIGL1 | Take grassland field corners or blocks out of management | £333/ha |
| CNUM2 | Legumes on improved grassland | £102/ha |
| OFC1 | Organic conversion — improved permanent grassland | £187/ha |
| OFC2 | Organic conversion — unimproved permanent grassland | £96/ha |
| OFC3 | Organic conversion — rotational land | £298/ha |
| OFC4 | Organic conversion — horticultural land | £874/ha |
| OFM1 | Organic land management — improved permanent grassland | £20/ha |
| OFM2 | Organic land management — unimproved permanent grassland | £41/ha |
| BFS6 | 6–12m habitat strip next to watercourses | £742/ha |
| WBD6 | Remove livestock from intensive grassland during autumn and winter (outside SDAs) | £115/ha |
| WBD7 | Remove livestock from grassland during autumn and winter (SDAs) | £115/ha |
| AGF1 | Maintain very low density (30–50 trees/ha) in-field agroforestry, less sensitive land | £248/ha |
| AGF2 | Maintain low density (51–130 trees/ha) in-field agroforestry, less sensitive land | £385/ha |
| PRF1 | Variable rate application of nutrients | £27/ha |
| PRF2 | Camera or remote sensor guided herbicide spraying | £43/ha |
| GRH12 | Manage rough grassland for upland breeding waders | £203/ha |
| SCR1 | Create scrub and open habitat mosaics | £588/ha |
| SCR2 | Manage scrub and open habitat mosaics | £350/ha |
| HEF6 | Manage historic and archaeological features on grassland | £55/ha |
Not every farm can take every row. The organic actions need organic land, some actions are only for land inside or outside a Severely Disadvantaged Area, and some can't go on a SSSI. The free check works out where each parcel sits for the moorland line, the Severely Disadvantaged Area and SSSIs. It cannot know whether your land is organic.
Above the moorland line the list is shorter: OFM3, UPL1, UPL2, UPL3, UPL8, UPL10.
The rate is not the earnings
Every action on that list asks for something. The low-input grassland action limits what you can put on the field. The herbal ley and legume actions have to be established and kept. The moorland actions set a stocking rate or months with the stock off, and ask for a stocking calendar each year. The rate is paid for doing that, and only you know what it costs on your ground. Each action page sets out what GOV.UK asks for, in plain English, with a link to the official page.
Land already in another scheme agreement may have less area available, or none. The Rural Payments service deducts it, and FieldBook's clash check flags an action that can't share land with one you already hold.
Check your own parcels
FieldBook's free check reads your parcels from the RPA's public land data and shows which actions fit the land cover of each one, with a rough yearly figure. No account is needed and your SBI is never stored. The figure is indicative: it leans on the RPA's land-cover mapping, not on what you know about each field. It is enough to decide whether to look further.
FieldBook never submits for you. You apply through the official Rural Payments service.