JA Agriculture Ltd Land Agents & Agri Business

18/03/2026

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2026 is now open for applications 🚜💷

This year, £50 million is available for equipment and technology that improves productivity, animal health & welfare and slurry management.
You can apply for grants between £1000-£25,000 per theme and can apply for multiple themes if required.

The application window is open for 6 weeks and will close on 28th April 2026 – this is the last year that this grant will be available in its current form, so now is the time to apply.

The full list of equipment available can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026

If you would like further information or would like to submit an application, please contact Rebecca on 07510071772.

27/02/2026

🔔SCHEME UPDATES 🔔

Earlier this week, long awaited updates were provided on the upcoming schemes for 2026. This included opening times for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Capital Grant Scheme (CG), and the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF).

SFI 🌱
Window 1 – will open in June 2026. It will be open to small farms (a farm with up to 50ha of agricultural land), and farms without an existing land management revenue agreement.

Window 2 – will open in September 2026 for all farms. Start and end dates for this window have not been announced.

New limits:
- Each agreement will be capped at a value of £100,000 per year
- Each farm business can have only one SFI26 agreement
- Agreement holders will not be able to increase the area or value of their rotational actions beyond what they included in Year 1
- 10 actions will be limited to 25% of the total agricultural area of the farm
- The SFI management payment will no longer be offered
- Assessment and review options, including Soil testing, have been removed

Payment rates
- Moorland grazing rates increased – applied to existing SFI agreement and SFI26 agreements
- SAM3 Herbal leys, CAHL2 Winter bird food and NUM3 Legume fallow all decreased.

Capital Grant 💷
The CG Scheme, which offers payments for fencing, walling, concreting and other farm infrastructure, is due to open in July 2026. £225 million is said to be available, up from the £150 million that was available last year. Full scheme guidance has not yet been made available, but will be published ahead of the opening.

FETF 🚜
A total of £50 million, split across 3 themes of farm productivity, animal health and welfare and slurry management will be available for a grant towards the cost of specific items from approved lists. Grants can range from £1000-£25,000 per theme and you can apply for more than one theme.

The application window will open on 17th March 2026 and will close 28th April 2026. There will then be a window in order to buy and claim for the items in your agreement following review of all the applications.

We will be contacting all our clients who had previously expressed interest in the above schemes, to discuss next steps ahead of the opening dates. If you have any questions, or would like to start putting together an application, please contact Rebecca on 07510 071772.

To read our full summary, visit our website here https://www.jarural.co.uk/scheme-updates-2026/

09/01/2026

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026

The new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer will launch this year, continuing to support sustainable farming in England and help encourage growth.

There are a few changes to how the scheme was previously offered, with the idea of making the new offer simpler and more focused. This includes reducing the number of actions available, increasing the number of ‘limited area’ actions and reviewing payment rates for actions that take land out of production.

Further details will be published ahead of the opening, but it has so far been confirmed that ‘small farms’ and farmers without existing environmental land management agreements will be invited to apply first in June 2026, before the scheme opens to all farmers in September 2026.

DEFRA have confirmed that clear definitions of these two groups will be published in due course, as well as promising that clear budgets will be set for each window, with regular updates so you can see when a window is close to being fully subscribed. They have also confirmed that application windows will not be closed without warning.

If you would like to go onto the waiting list for applications, please contact Rebecca on 07510071772.

05/01/2026

Increased payments for vet visits 📣

From 22 January, payments for both the animal health and welfare review and the endemic disease follow-up will increase. This increase has been announced by DEFRA to reflect inflation, whilst helping ensure farmers can continue to access high quality support.

During visits, a vet of your choice will assess health, welfare and farm conditions, including animal condition, housing, nutrition, water and handling.

The new payment rates are as follows:

Pigs 🐷
Review: £648
Follow up: £923

Sheep 🐑
Review: £574
Follow up: £639

Beef Cattle 🐮
Review: £647
Follow up: £837

Dairy Cattle 🐄
Review: £447
Follow up: £1714

If you already have an agreement – you do not need to do anything now. Once the increased payment rates are in place, the RPA will write to you with a variation to your agreement.

If you do not yet have an agreement – you must have at least 11 cattle, 21 sheep or 51 pigs to qualify. Applications are quick and easy with agreements granted instantly.

If you would like any further information or are looking to apply for the Animal Health and Welfare Review, please contact Rebecca on 07510071772.

19/12/2025

17/12/2025

🚨Funding Update 🚨

The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) – the government’s roadmap for restoring England’s environment over the coming years, has recently been updated. The plan sets out measurable commitments across every priority – from cleaner air and water to thriving wildlife and resilient landscapes.

Some of the commitments relate to agriculture, such as ‘reduce total nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture to the water environment’ and ‘bring at least 40% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management by 2028’. To help achieve these (and other) commitments, the government have pledged to provide funding to farmers for a number of different actions. The main points are as follows:
• Provide capital grants to improve slurry management
• Provide funding to encourage farmers and landowners to protect and enhance watercourses
• Deliver agri-environment schemes that improve the conditions of SSSIs
• Incentivise farmers and land managers to create and restore hedgerows
• Incentivise farmers and land managers through our agri-environment schemes to implement measures to support farm wildlife alongside productive farming

Alongside a recent announcement that the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will reopen in the ‘first half’ of 2026, this is a welcome update for farmers who are currently faced with no financial support from the government.

Whilst there are no schemes currently available, we are encouraging those looking into grants to get in touch to ensure you are prepared for an application when schemes reopen. If you would like to go on our waiting list, or would like any further information on next steps, please contact Rebecca on 07510071772.