England’s 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive stopped taking applications at 4 p.m. on Sept. 22, six hours after opening, as its £233 million budget ran out. The closure is likely to leave thousands of farmers without funding; another round was not expected until 2027.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive replaced older EU-style subsidies, rewarding farmers for public benefits such as healthier soil and nature stewardship rather than simply for land ownership or farming activity. The government had added £50 million to the 2026 pot, but the National Farmers’ Union said the total remained too small and called for a plan ahead of the next round.
RSPB policy head Alice Groom called the rapid depletion “unprecedented” and criticized the first-come, first-served allocation. She warned the shortfall could impede mandatory conservation goals, including restoring 30% of nature by 2030.
