Funding for farmers, growers and land managers
Apply for grants and other funding to increase productivity, manage your land to benefit the environment and support your agricultural business.
Applies to England
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This page tells you about grants and other funding currently open or opening soon.
You may be able to apply for one or more of the available grants and funding schemes if you or your land are eligible. The guidance for each scheme will explain where this is possible.
Manage your land to benefit the environment
Apply through an environmental land management (ELM) scheme to farm productively and in a way that benefits the environment. There are 3 ELM schemes.
1. Sustainable Farming Incentive
Open: summer 2023 as a managed rollout.
Closing date: to be confirmed.
Grant value: between £10 and £732 per hectare, depending on action.
If you were eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2022 or 2023, you’ll be able to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
SFI is a 3-year agreement made up of a choice of environmental land management actions you need to complete to receive payment. These actions will help you manage your land in a more sustainable way. The number of actions will expand each year until the full range is available by 2024.
If you are eligible, you can apply for up to 23 actions for:
- soil health
- moorland assessment
- hedgerows
- integrated pest management
- nutrient management
- farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land
- farmland wildlife on improved grassland
- buffer strips
- low input grassland
Read the guidance for SFI 2023 to get ready to apply.
2. Countryside Stewardship (CS)
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.
Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
You can apply for Countryside Stewardship to get paid to:
- increase biodiversity
- improve habitat
- expand woodland areas
- improve water quality
- improve air quality
- improve natural flood management
Use the CS grant finder to see what’s available to achieve these environmental outcomes.
3. Landscape Recovery
Closing date: 21 September 2023.
Grant value: £15 million shared between up to 25 successful projects.
Landscape Recovery pays groups of farmers and land managers to do long-term, large-scale projects together. Land must be in England and consist of at least 500 connected hectares.
You can apply to join the Landscape Recovery scheme if you’re planning to do a landscape-scale project that supports:
- net zero carbon emissions
- protected sites
- wildlife-rich habitat
Improve water quality and air quality
You can apply for grants to improve water and air quality through CS. Check the CS grant finder for water quality options and air quality options. You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.
Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Reduce flood risk
You can apply for grants to reduce flood risk through CS. Check the CS grant finder for natural flood management options. You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.
Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Protect species and habitats and support biodiversity
You can apply for grants to protect species and habitats and support biodiversity through CS. Check the CS grant finder for:
You can choose grants suitable for your land and apply to the relevant CS grant scheme.
CS Wildlife Offers
Closing date: some grants are open all year, others are time-limited - read the CS guidance for details.
Grant value: amounts vary depending on your CS agreement.
Wildlife Offers are part of CS Mid Tier and are a simpler way to improve biodiversity based on land use. You can choose to:
- improve nectar sources for insect pollinators and foraging for birds
- provide additional winter food sources for seed-eating birds
- improve habitats and other resources for specific species or areas
There are CS wildlife packages for:
SFI offers
When SFI opens, you can choose SFI management actions for:
- hedgerows
- buffer strips
- farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land and improved grassland
Species Survival Fund
Closing date: submit an expression of interest by midday 24 July 2023, applications close midday 26 October 2023.
Grants value: from £250,000 to £3 million for 2-year projects.
You can express an interest to apply for a grant to create and restore habitats and reverse the decline of species across England. You need to have a nature recovery project planned, costed and ready to start.
Further information is available on the Heritage Fund website.
Farm in protected landscapes
Open: apply at any time of year.
Closing date: projects must end by March 2025.
Grant value: 100% of the cost of a project as long as there is no commercial gain.
You can apply for funding if you’re a farmer or land manager within an area of outstanding natural beauty or national park in England. You must be planning projects that:
- support nature recovery
- mitigate the impacts of climate change
- provide opportunities for people to discover nature
- protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape
Read the guidance for the Farming in Protected Landscapes Progamme to find out how to apply.
Protect animal health and welfare
SFI annual health and welfare review
Open: apply at any time of year.
Grant value: from £372 to £684 per vet review depending on livestock type.
Farmers who keep cattle, sheep or pigs can get funding for a vet to visit their farm and carry out an annual health and welfare review.
You can apply for this funding if you are either:
- eligible for BPS
- expecting to be eligible for a delinked payment in 2024
There is also an infrastructure grant for new or refurbished calf housing. Read more about the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant.
Create or improve woodland and protect tree health
Creating woodland
The England Woodland Creation Grant (EWCO) provides funding to create new woodland on areas that are at least 1 hectare.
Open: all year round.
Closing date: 1 January 2025.
Grant value: up to £10,200 with an additional £8,000 if the woodland is for public benefits.
Read the Forestry Commission’s overview of grants available for woodland creation, maintenance, management and tree health.
Regional woodland creation
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- Great Northumberland Forest – across Northumberland
Our woodland creation campaign tells you more about these regional grants.
Planning woodland
CS offers grants for 10-year woodland management planning.
Open: all year round.
Grant value: depends on the area of eligible woodland.
The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) provides funding to prepare a Woodland Creation Design Plan that complies with the UK Forestry Standard.
Open: all year round.
Grant value: maximum £30,000 per project.
You can use this plan to support further woodland creation grant applications, such as EWCO.
Protecting tree health
You can apply to the tree health pilot scheme 2023 to test different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. Grants are available for:
- ash with ash dieback
- diseased larch, spruce and sweet chestnut
- oak with oak processionary moth
- restocking trees
Open: all year round.
Closing date: 2024.
Grant value:
- up to 80% of felling costs capped at £50 per m3
- up to 40% of infrastrucure costs capped at £100 per linear metre for road or track costs and £30 per m2 for loading areas
CS Woodland Tree Health grant pays you to restock or improve woodland after tree health problems. There are 19 capital items available under CS to choose from.
Open: all year round.
Grant value: varies depending on the capital items chosen as part of your CS grant agreement.
Invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure to increase productivity
You can apply for grants through the Farming Investment Fund (FIF) to invest in new technology, equipment and infrastructure to improve:
- productivity
- the environment
- animal health and welfare
FIF grants are provided through the Farming Transformation Fund and Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.
This page will be updated with new FIF grants or further application rounds of previous grants when they open. Read the details of the 3 FIF grants currently open.
Water Management Grant (round 2)
Closing date: 11:59pm 31 October 2024 for invited candidates that were successful at Stage 1 of the application process.
Grant value: 40% of eligible costs of a project up to £500,000.
You can apply for this grant if you’re both:
- representing an arable and horticultural business
- growing, or intending to grow irrigated food crops, ornamentals or forestry nurseries in England
Slurry Infrastructure grant
Closing date: 11:59pm 28 June 2024 for invited applicants who passed stage 1.
Grant value: you’ll get a grant contribution towards infrastructure items, the amount varies depending on the item.
The Slurry Infrastructure grant is for pig, beef and dairy farmers whose farming systems produce slurry. It helps replace, build new or expand existing slurry stores to provide 6 months’ storage.
The application process is at stage 2 for invited applications who passed stage 1.
Adding Value grant
Closing date: applicants who were successful at stage 1 must submit their full application by 31 January 2024.
Grant value: between £25,000 and £300,000.
The Adding Value grant is available for growers or producers to add value to eligible agricultural products after they have been harvested or reared. You can only apply if you were successful at stage 1 of the application process.
Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant
Opening soon: you’ll be able to check if you’re eligible using the online eligibility checker.
Grant value: from £15,000 to £500,000.
Beef and dairy farmers can soon check if they’re eligible to apply for grants to build new or refurbish existing calf housing. Read more about the Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant and what you need to do to apply.
Research and innovation
You can apply for grants through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) to:
- improve agricultural and horticultural productivity, sustainability and resilience
- reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and horticulture
- use science and research to develop solutions for practical challenges in agriculture and horticulture
FIP grants are provided through the Defra Farming and Countryside Programme. Further information is available on the UK Research and Innovation website.
Direct payments
Delinked payments replacing Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)
Applications for BPS 2023 are now closed. BPS will end on 31 December 2023.
From 2024, BPS will be replaced by ‘delinked payments’. These payments will be made until 2027.
Each year, direct payments are being progressively reduced until they’re phased out by 2028. You can calculate how these progressive reductions could affect your direct payments for 2023 and 2024.
Last updated
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Added 2 woodland grants: Great Northumberland Forest and Forest of Cornwall and a link to the Forestry Commission campaign site.
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You can now apply for an SFI annual health and welfare review if you're eligible to do so.
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Updated the Water Management grant which is at Stage 2 for notified applicants successful at Stage 1.
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Details of the Calf Housing and Welfare grant published.
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Update grant value sentence for SFI from 'between £10 - £989 per hectare, depending on action ' to 'between £10 - £732 per hectare, depending on action'.
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Content on this page has been restructured to show grants and funding open or opening soon for applications, closing dates and grant value information.
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Added Sustainable Farming Incentive information for 2023 applications opening later this summer.
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The information about Landscape Recovery has been updated to reflect the round two focus. A link to the guidance and to apply has also been added.
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Updated information on the New Entrant Support Scheme.
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Updated to include current and future funding available to farmers and land managers.
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Restructured page to make it clearer what funding options are available to farmers, land managers and foresters.
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A link to more information about the sustainable farming incentive has been added.
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First published.