We've written to Dame Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Stephen Morgan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for farming and food, to express our disappointment at how the latest application window of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) was conducted.

18 months after SFI was unexpectedly closed, the latest application window was abruptly ended on Tuesday after less than six hours, with grants allocated on a first-come first-served basis, leaving many farmers unable to even submit their applications. Despite the government promising an extra £20m in response to that demand, this sequence of events demonstrates how SFI is not fit for purpose in its current form.

Read our open letter to see what we're calling on government to do to better support farmers in our shared mission for healthy landscapes and rivers fit for the future.

Dear Secretary of State, and Minister,

Re: Window 2 of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026.

Farming is the foundation of a healthy and prosperous nation. Well-functioning farming systems provide us with high-quality food, support diverse ecosystems, and are part of thriving communities and local economies. When farming systems aren’t working well, we end up with polluted waterways, unsustainable eating and buying habits, and a landscape depleted of nature and wildlife.

In just the last 12 months, we have seen how flooding, drought, and even wildfires threaten our communities, our infrastructure, our businesses, and our food supply. Targeted action for water management on land and along river corridors is the only acceptable response to these damaging and often traumatic weather extremes, will are set to be become more frequent in future. And this can only happen by working closely with farmers and the farming sector.

Farming will also play a vital role in international targets such as 30x30 and net zero. These targets, as well as wider plans for nature and the environment, are not conceptual, blue sky thinking, or ‘nice to have’; they are fundamental commitments made on the global stage that must be met to protect our environment and our communities.

Yet, farmers are under huge pressure, having to adapt to extreme weather, navigate complex regulatory and funding landscapes that change with the political winds, and to run profitable businesses in an increasingly demanding industry. If farmers are to play their required part in our ambitions for food, economic and nature security, they must be given the right support from government to enable a just transition. That is what makes this week’s fleeting SFI application window so devastating - we are spending public money on untargeted interventions that will not deliver the goods they purport to fund.

We welcomed changes to the SFI 2026 rules which aimed to simplify SFI funding for farmers. The measures supported through SFI are some of the most effective tools available for improving soil health, reducing diffuse pollution and bettering water quality. It is essential that those who manage our farmland can easily and fairly access the payments required to ensure they can farm in a sustainable way. Without available finance, we will not see the improvements in our water environment to which the Government has committed.

Now, eighteen months after the scheme was unexpectedly closed, and after one of their most challenging years, many farmers will not get the funding they need to support the practices that will underpin climate and nature-resilient landscapes. A first-come, first-served race is not an effective way to deliver strategic environmental outcomes and, ultimately, further undermines trust with the farming community.

We urge you to take action to ensure this does not happen in future rounds of SFI. We recommend either:

Significantly increasing the overall farming budget to reflect the extraordinary demand for the SFI scheme and farmers' willingness and desire to farm sustainably to a level that can accommodate a first-come-first-served approach to take up and still deliver the desired outcomes; or
A larger budget coupled with better targeting and a strategic approach to where the money is spent and the actions employed. This would need to include:
- Using the proposed new regional planning bodies for integrated water management and existing Catchment Partnerships to direct funding and action to the right places, based on good evidence;
- Using a strategic, holistic approach to target the available funding far more effectively, with a clear pathway to bring in funding from private sources, such as beneficiaries in industry and infrastructure, where appropriate; and
- Supporting the creation of a nature-rich network of river corridors nationwide, establishing a clear regulatory baseline of space for water along all rivers, putting the right restoration measures in the right places, and setting this pathway out in a clear, funded plan with lines of accountability and routes to delivery.

The Rivers Trust acknowledges the vital role farmers play in meeting our ambition of wild, healthy, natural rivers. We believe it is possible to balance food production, farming livelihoods and a healthy environment, and the Rivers Trust Movement, with our 130 agriculture advisors, is ready and willing to support farmers if the above changes are made.

Thank you for your time reading this letter. We would be more than happy to discuss further with you the importance of improving the funding system for sustainable farming to deliver better outcomes for our rivers, wildlife and communities.

Kind regards,

Mark Lloyd
Chief Executive
The Rivers Trust