°Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï

Read the SFI26 rules and guidance document before you start your application.

Watch the ‘’ video to follow the application process.

1. You cannot start your application

To start an SFI26 application, sign into the . From your ‘Business overview’ screen:

• select ‘Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 offer’ link
• then click on ‘Apply for or manage an SFI26 agreement’

If you cannot start an SFI26 application, this may be because either:

• you are not eligible to apply for SFI26 Window 1 (small farms or those without an existing Environmental Land Management (ELM) revenue agreement)
• you do not have at least 3 hectares of agricultural land linked to your SBI
• you do not have ‘Business Details: Full’ or ‘BPS: Submit’ or ‘CS Applications: Submit’ permission

If you do not have one of these permissions, you need to ask someone with ‘Business Details: Full’ permission to give you the correct permission.

If you want someone else to apply on your behalf, such as an agent, you need to:

• check they’re registered with the RPA in the Rural Payments service
• give them the correct permission to apply for an SFI26 agreement

Read the guidance on how to give or update permissions in the Rural Payments service.

2. Your digital maps do not show the correct details

Before you start an SFI26 application, check that your digital maps in the Rural Payments service show:

• at least 3ha of agricultural land – you will only be able to start an SFI26 application if this is the case
• all the land parcels you want to include in your SFI26 application, with the correct total areas (in hectares) and land covers

Section 1 of your SFI26 application asks you to confirm if your digital maps show the correct details.

If your answer is ‘No’, you need to follow the on-screen instructions and submit a mapping update request to us as soon as possible. You’ll need to withdraw your SFI26 application while we process your request. You cannot start a new application until we have done this.

3. You cannot add SFI actions to your selected land parcel

Section 3 of your SFI26 application is where you add the SFI actions you selected earlier in your application to each land parcel you want to include in your application.

3.1 A land parcel is missing

If a land parcel is not listed in section 3, it may not have been linked to your Single Business Identifier (SBI) when you started your application.

In this case, you need to:

• withdraw your partially completed SFI26 application
• check that the land parcel shows on your digital maps in the Rural Payments service

If the land parcel does not show on your digital maps, you need to submit a mapping update request as soon as possible.

3.2 You see a ‘land use’ error message when you select a land parcel

When you select a land parcel, you may see one of the following ‘land use’ error messages:

If you see one of these error messages, it’s because the land uses you’ve declared for the land parcel do not match its registered land covers on your digital maps.

For example:

• the registered land covers are 5 hectares permanent grassland and 5 hectares arable land
• the land use has been declared as 10 hectares permanent grassland (PG01), which does not match the registered land covers

You cannot add SFI actions to that land parcel until you update the land uses.

Read ‘Annex A: Fixing ‘land use’ error messages’ for further information.

3.3 You get a common land error message

If a land parcel is common land, you’ll see an error message which says:

3.4 There is no SFI26 action available for your selected land parcel

When you select a land parcel, an SFI action may not show as available because:

• the land parcel’s ‘land uses’ are not eligible for the SFI action – for example, the land use is permanent grassland (PG01), but the action can only be done on arable land
• there’s an incompatible SFI action, Countryside Stewardship (CS) or Environmental Stewardship (ES) option already in the land parcel
• the land parcel contains a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) or historic or archaeological features and those are not eligible for the SFI action
• the land parcel is located above the moorland line and that land is not eligible for the SFI action

4. You do not have enough ‘available area’ for an SFI action

In section 3 of your SFI26 application, when you select a land parcel, you’ll see the SFI ‘available area’ for each area-based SFI action.

The SFI available area indicates what area may be eligible for an area-based SFI action. It’s your responsibility to check that the available area you enter into each SFI action is eligible for the action.

Each SFI26 action on the Find funding for land or farms tool sets out which land is eligible.

To apply for your area-based SFI actions in the selected land parcel, you can either:

• tick the ‘Select action’ box next to the action to enter the total SFI available area
• type the area (in hectares) in the ‘Quantity’ box next to the action to enter part of the SFI available area

4.1 You cannot enter an available area into the ‘quantity’ box

If you untick the ‘Select action’ box or delete an area from the ‘Quantity’ box, you may find that you cannot enter a new area. If this happens, click on ‘Update actions applied for on land parcel’ to reset the information.

4.2 You’ve entered an area that’s larger than the available area

You cannot enter an area that’s larger than the SFI available area shown. If you try to do this, you’ll see the following error message:

4.3 An available area is already in another incompatible SFI action, CS or ES option

If you enter an available area for an SFI action which is already entered into an incompatible SFI action, CS or ES option you should see the following error message:

Once you have reduced or removed the area entered into this action, the error message will no longer show.

4.4 You enter less than the total available area

If you’ve selected ‘total available area only’ SFI actions (for example, UPL1: Moderate livestock grazing on moorland), and you enter less than the total available area you will see the following error message:

To fix this:

• type the area shown in the error message into the ‘Quantity’ box
• click on ‘Update actions applied for on land parcel’

4.5 You’re able to apply for SFI actions which cannot be done on the same available area

Each SFI action explains which other SFI actions and CS or ES options you can apply for on the same area of land within a land parcel. Make sure you check this for the relevant SFI actions on the ‘Find funding for land or farms’ tool.

If the system allows you to apply for a combination of SFI actions that cannot be done on the same available area within a land parcel, you need to:

• email us at ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk as soon as possible – use ‘SFI26’ in the subject heading
• attach clear screen shots of what you’re seeing to your email

We will then contact you.

4.6 You’re prevented from applying for eligible SFI actions within the available area

Each SFI action explains which other SFI actions and CS or ES options you can do on the same area of land within a land parcel. Make sure you check this for the relevant SFI actions on the ‘Find funding for land or farms’ tool.

If the system prevents you from applying for a combination SFI actions which you should be able to apply for on the same available area within a land parcel, you need to:

• email us at ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk as soon as possible – use ‘SFI26’ in the subject heading
• attach clear screen shots of what you’re seeing to your email

We will then contact you.

4.7 You are not able to enter the available area into a supplemental SFI action

If you cannot enter an available area into a ‘supplemental’ SFI action when you select a land parcel, check that you have entered the available area into an eligible ‘base’ SFI action in the same land parcel.

The eligible base action can be in either:

• the same SFI26 application as the supplemental SFI action
• an SFI 2024 agreement which you already have which includes an eligible base SFI action

The available area you enter into the supplemental SFI action cannot be larger than the available area entered into the eligible base SFI action. For example, if the base action is 2 hectares, the supplemental action cannot be more than 2 hectares.

5. Measuring linear boundary features

The SFI actions for boundary features include the following actions:

• CHRW2: Manage hedgerows
• BND1: Maintain dry stone walls
• BND2: Maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedgebanks

It’s your responsibility to check that the boundary features you enter into these SFI actions are eligible for the action.

When you enter a length (in metres), make sure it corresponds with what’s on the ground in the relevant land parcel.

You can use the measuring tool on your digital maps in the Rural Payments service to help you measure the length of the boundary feature.

The hedgerow lengths shown on your digital maps are not used in your SFI application.

5.1 Entering the length of an SFI action that pays for one side of a boundary feature

To apply for an SFI boundary feature action which pays for one side (CHRW2: Manage hedgerows) you need to:

• select the relevant land parcel in section 3 of your SFI26 application
• enter the length (in metres) for one side of the boundary feature in the ‘Quantity’ box

If you want to apply for the other side of the boundary feature (so that you enter both sides), you need to:

• select the relevant adjacent land parcel
• enter the length (in metres) for the other side of the boundary feature

5.2 Entering the length of an SFI action that pays for both sides of a boundary feature

To apply for an SFI boundary feature action which pays for both sides (BND1: Maintain dry stone walls or BND2: Maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedgebanks), you need to:

• select the relevant land parcel in section 3 of your SFI26 application
• enter half the length (in metres) for one side of the boundary feature in the ‘quantity box’
• select the relevant adjacent land parcel and enter half the length (in metres) for the other side of the boundary feature

Alternatively, you can select the relevant land parcel and enter the whole length (in metres) for the boundary feature. If you do this, do not select the relevant adjacent land parcel and enter a length. You will need to do this if it’s a roadside boundary without an adjacent land parcel.

6. Applying for rotational SFI actions

If you’ve applied for rotational SFI actions on your land parcels, the next step you will see in section 3 of your SFI application will be ‘Additional parcels for rotational actions’.

For SFI, you do not need to select land parcels which you may use for your rotational SFI actions in the future in this section of your application.

Instead, you need to tick the box next to ‘No additional parcels selected’. If you have multiple Ordnance Survey (OS) map sheet references, you will need to select an OS map sheet reference to see this.

You will tell the RPA about the future location and area for your selected rotational SFI actions towards the end of each year of your SFI agreement. The RPA will tell you how to do this.

Annex A: Fixing ‘land use’ error messages

A land use error message is shown when the land uses you’ve declared for the land parcel do not match its registered land covers on your digital maps.

If you see a land use error message when you select a land parcel (in section 3 of your application), you need to fix it before you can apply for SFI actions in that parcel.

The following table summarises:

• the 3 land use error messages
• what the error message means
• what you need to do

Land use error message	What the error message means	What to do
‘Use the Rural Payments service to declare the land uses for this land parcel. They need to match the land covers and areas on your digital maps’	No land uses have been declared for the land parcel	Add land use codes and areas
‘Use the Rural Payments service to update the land use area for this parcel, so it matches the land cover area on your digital maps’	The total area of land uses declared in the land parcel is either:  - greater than its total area (‘overdeclared’)  - less than its total area (‘undeclared’)	Update land use areas
‘Use the Rural Payments service to update the land uses for this parcel so they are compatible with the land covers on your digital maps’	The land uses declared for the land parcel are not compatible with its registered land covers on your digital maps	Update land use codes and areas

Read Annex B: Registered land covers and compatible land use codes in the SFI26 scheme rules and guidance for more information.

Use the following steps to fix land use errors.

Step 1: Identify land parcels with land use error messages

In section 3 of your SFI26 application, for each land parcel you want to apply for SFI actions on:

• click on the Parcel ID (for example, SE2131 6123)
• if a land use error message is shown, make a note of the Parcel ID and which error message is shown so you know what to do to fix the error

Step 2: View your digital maps and check the registered land covers

For each land parcel you’ve identified, view it on your digital maps and make a note of the registered land covers and their areas. This will allow you to declare land use codes and areas which match these registered land covers.

To view your digital maps, go to your ‘Business overview’ screen in the Rural Payments service. Select ‘Land’ and then ‘View land’.

On the ‘Land summary’ screen in your digital maps, click on the Parcel ID for each land parcel you identified under step 1 and make a note of:

• each land cover (shown under ‘Land covers’), for example arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops, farmyard, pond, metalled track
• the area of each land cover (shown under ‘Total area (ha)’), in hectares to 2 decimal places

Step 3: Update land use codes and areas

To update land use codes and areas for each affected land parcel, go to your ‘Business overview’ screen in the Rural Payments service. Select ‘Land’ and then ‘Update land use’.

In the ‘Land use’ screen, click the ‘Filters’ heading and search for the affected land parcel (for example, SY3132 4648) by entering both:

• OS Map Sheet Reference in ‘Sheet’, for example SY3132
• parcel ID in ‘Parcel’, for example 4648

Click ‘Search’ to display the relevant land parcel.

To update the land uses in the relevant land parcel, you can select:

• the ‘Edit’ icon to change a land use code and area
• the ‘Add’ icon to add a land use code and area
• the ‘Del’ icon to delete a land use code and area

If you select ‘Edit’ or ‘Add’, enter:

• the land use code in the ‘Land use’ field - this needs to be compatible with the registered land cover for the land parcel on your digital maps (which you noted down in step 2 above) – read Annex A to find out which land covers and land uses are compatible
• the land use area in hectares (ha) - this needs to match the land cover area for the land parcel shown on your digital maps (which you noted down in step 2 above)

Ignore the ‘Rotations’. Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’.

If you need to edit or add more land uses for the same land parcel, select ‘Edit’ or ‘Add’ and enter the land use code and area. Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’.

You can also delete the existing land use codes and areas by clicking on the ‘Del’ icon and then ‘Add’ land use codes and areas following the process above.

Step 4: Check the land parcels in your SFI26 application

Once you’ve updated the land uses for all the affected land parcels, return to section 3 of your SFI26 application.

Click on the relevant Parcel ID to apply for SFI actions. If you still see a land use error message this may be because it’s not been possible match:

• the land use area (shown to 4 decimal places on the ‘Land use’ screen)
• the corresponding land cover area (shown to 2 decimal places on your digital maps)

If you still see a land use error message in your SFI26 application after you’ve updated the land uses, contact us with the Parcel ID.