Support and Funding

Capital grants re-open for applications

Following a pause in capital grants in November 2024, Defra announced on 3 July that they were re-opening applications.  This new round will make £150 million available to farmers, land managers and rural businesses for environmental improvements.  There are 78 items available through the Capital Grant offer, in 6 groups:

• Air quality

• Assessments

• Boundaries, trees and orchards

• Natural flood management

• Improvements

• Water quality

You can apply for items in any of these groups.    When this round’s funding is allocated, Defra will close the Capital Grants offer again. At the point of closure, they will not accept any further applications including those started but not yet submitted.     Funding is not guaranteed even if an application has been submitted and is eligible.   Read this Defra blog post for all the news on the new capital grant offer.

Multiple herds and flocks now available for vet visit funding

From today, farmers in England can get a funded vet visit (also called the Animal Health and Welfare Review) for each of their herds or flocks of the same species.  This means that farmers managing several groups of cattle, pigs or sheep can now get support across their business – not just for a single herd or flock.   For example, if you have 3 herds of dairy cows, you can now apply for funding for all 3.    To read about what is included in the vet visit and the funding available, please visit this page.  

Discover the financial and environmental benefits of woodland

Whether you already have woodland, or you’re thinking about planting some, the Forestry Commission is currently offering landowners the opportunity to access high-quality free advice to look at the potential for woodland creation projects on their land.  Financial support is available through Forestry Commission grants and other woodland creation organisations including the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), which offers up to £10,200 per hectare to cover the capital costs of creating the woodland.   For proposed woodlands of more than five hectares there is also the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) available to help plan a UK Forestry Standard compliant woodland creation design plan and includes funding for surveys that might be needed. There are also grants available for the management of existing woodland by producing a Woodland Management Plan and Agroforestry.

For further information on the benefits that woodlands can provide and the grants and support available, or to organise a free woodland opportunity site visit, contact your local Land Use Advisor in the West Midlands, Emma Clitherow, emma.clitherow@forestrycommission.gov.uk

Useful links

Where to find grants for trees and woodland – GOV.UK

England Woodland Creation Offer – GOV.UK

Woodland Creation Planning Grant – GOV.UK

Create a woodland management plan – GOV.UK

The UK Forestry Standard – GOV.UK

Home | Woodland Carbon Code

ADOPT Facilitator grant – Round Two opens

Defra’s new Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund (ADOPT) fund will invest up to £100,000 to support the development of applications for on-farm trials and farm experiment projects.   Farmers who require support to develop a Full ADOPT Grant application can apply for a £2500 grant to engage an external project facilitator, who will then complete the full ADOPT application on behalf of the farmer.  Innovate UK has a list of approved facilitators.   The competition to apply for a facilitator grant closes on 24 July at 11.00am.   Read more on this page.  

Further information on the main ADOPT fund can be found on the ADOPT Support Hub.

New tree planting and woodland creation resources page

Forestry Commission has pulled together a range of information on woodland creation into one useful page. Covering every stage from planning and funding to planting, protection, and long-term management, it includes resources, courses and guides to support successful woodland projects.  Visit the new resource hub on this page.  

Payment rates for HLS increase from January 2025

Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) payment rates have remained the same for more than 10 years. In that time, they’ve fallen behind the rates offered through other schemes including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).    Defra has now announced that they are raising 157 options by 34.4% of the difference between the HLS rate set out in an agreement holder’s document and the equivalent CSHT or SFI action, to bring them more in line with those schemes. The new rates are now available on this page.  The increases will be effective from 1 January 2025 and will be paid from December 2025.   Read more on this page.

Update on SFI for some unsubmitted applications

On 12 May Defra gave an update on the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) which is currently closed to new applicants.  Due to an oversight it has been decided that applications made to the SFI 2024 scheme by farmers who had started an application within 2 months of 11 March 2025, but who had not submitted the application by that date, will be accepted.   Eligible applicants will be given a six-week window in which to make an application. Defra will shortly be contacting applicants who are eligible to let them know when this window will open and close.   Agreements will be offered to eligible applications subject to the following restrictions:

(a) only one application may be submitted per farm business
(b) agreements will be offered up to a maximum value of £9,300 per year for the duration of the agreement (excluding the SFI management payment, which would not count towards the value limit). This maximum value reflects the median average agreement value for existing SFI 2024 agreements
(c) agreement holders will not be able to add more land to ‘rotational’ SFI actions after Year 1 of their agreement.

You can read the full update on this page.

Farming Equipment and Technology Fund opens on 29 May

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund provides grants for machinery, equipment and technology items to help cut costs and boost efficiency on your farm.   Funding is available under 3 themes:

Productivity
Slurry Management
Animal Health and Welfare

Grants will range from £1,000 to a maximum of £25,000 for each theme. Defra will pay a percentage of the cost of the item, which varies by item and the fund is competitive. You’ll be able to apply to the fund on 29 May and the window will be open for 6 weeks, closing midday, 10 July.   Guidance on the types of items which could be funded under the three themes is now available, and there’s also a webinar on 21 May to learn more about the offer.  Read more on this page.

Guidance now available on the improved CS Higher Tier offer

Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier pays farmers, land managers and foresters to carry out location-specific actions that restore, protect or enhance the environment.  This includes sensitive sites, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and land that requires more complex, long-term management.  It includes 132 actions, including many that are new or improved.    Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier will also offer grants for 145 capital items, including 25 new items. These grants support delivery of management, restoration or creation of sites. An additional 6 capital items are available to support the preparation of plans for CSHT applications.

The new guidance from Defra on how to apply for the offer is on this page  There’s also a webinar available on 8 January at 2.30pm – 4.00pm.  Sign up to join the webinar on this page.   Read more about the improved CS Higher Tier offer on this Defra blog post.

Find funding for land or farms with the new Gov.uk search engine

A search engine has been launched by Gov.uk which will allow you to find out about grants and funding for farmers and land managers in England.   Further grants and funding will be added to the site as the tool is developed.  So far, there are 101 grants available.  You can search by keyword, action name or code if you know it and use the filters to search by land types or areas of interest.  Feedback is requested to enable Gov.uk improve the tool.  Access the search engine on this page.  

Watch how to apply for an SFI agreement

Defra has produced a video showing farmers how to apply for an SFI agreement.  Visit this page on YouTube to watch the video.