Advice on preparing early for new farm grant funding applications
© Tim Scrivener A new round of standalone Countryside Stewardship (CS) Capital Grants 2025-26 will open this summer worth £45m and funding a significant proportion of the cost of a wide range of projects and items.
As in previous rounds, these will support investments that improve water quality, air quality, natural flood management, as well as restoring and improving boundaries and tree planting.
Guidance is awaited but, in the meantime, advisers urge farmers to prepare for the new round, with previous rounds having offered grants covering 40% or 50% of the project cost.
While there has been a high level of interest in earlier rounds, many farm business advisers say that the scheme deserves wider recognition, as many farmers think, wrongly, that it is linked to having a CS agreement.
See also: Grant support for tree projects
CS Capital Grants key points
- New round to open in summer 2025
- These are standalone grants for equipment and measures in certain categories – no Countryside Stewardship agreement is needed
- Spending caps are being introduced, of £25,000-£35,000 depending on category
- Detailed list of kit, items to be funded and guidance not yet available
- Advice is to get sights on likely items and be ready to apply as soon as the scheme opens
- Applicant can seek funding in more than one category but this must be made at the same time as only one application per Single Business Identifier can be submitted each year
- Risk that government funding constraints could see scheme paused or total funding cut
- Past rounds have been open to owner-occupiers, landlords and tenants, with qualifications including having management control the land for a certain number of years
Standalone grants
CS Capital Grants are standalone grants open to most farmers in England, with the overall aim of enhancing the environment.
There are some qualifications and requirements for eligibility [see below].
This year’s round sees the introduction of spending caps for each category:
- £25,000 for water quality improvements
- £25,000 for air quality enhancements
- £25,000 for natural flood management projects
- £35,000 for boundaries, trees, and orchards initiatives.
These caps are designed to ensure that smaller farms and high-priority projects receive adequate support, says Defra.
“With the Capital Grants scheme back in action, now is the time to plan ahead,” says Sam Kelly, managing director of Kelly Farm Consulting.
“While the rolling window continues, early applications are still advisable as applications can be paused at any time if the pot is running low.
“I think that’s less likely now with the spending caps being reintroduced, but securing funding earlier reduces the risk of missing out if demand is high.”
Opening date awaited
However, the lack of a confirmed opening date raises concerns about potential slippage due to government funding constraints, particularly with the spring statement due in the meantime.
“If departmental cuts are made in that statement then Defra will need to review their position again.
“I would certainly be thinking about what options to apply for and start working on the options maps now, so that you are ready to submit as soon as the window opens,” advises Sam.
The spending caps will have major implications for large projects in the water quality category such as roofing dirty yard areas, says farm business consultant Janice Radford of Douglas Green Consulting.
“The roofing grants have been very valuable for covering dirty yards and silage clamps and, in some cases, muck heaps, which we expect may have to be covered in future.
“There’s a phenomenal amount of slurry and dirty water produced, we spend a lot of time calculating this and roofing is the first thing we look at.
Brakes on dirty water roof work
“The caps will stop a lot of roof work that would have been done or it will delay projects as farmers will have to find the funds to cover what will not now be covered by the grant [in the 2025-26 round].”
Janice points out that applications in the water quality category must have catchment sensitive farming officer (CSFO) approval and that very large projects go to a national panel for approval, which can take time.
While the cap will reduce the number of large projects, there are more farmers than CSFOs, so if water quality work under CS Capital Grants is planned, it will be worth making plans and showing these to a CSFO for comment, advises Janice.
Processing of 2024 CS Capital Grants applications to resume
The Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants scheme was suspended in November 2024 due to what Defra describes as “unprecedented” demand.
This put 4,040 applications on hold, which will now be processed in accordance with the guidance at the time of submission and are not subject to the caps.
Those with suspended applications will be contacted by the Rural Payments Agency and do not need to take any action.
Other schemes announced last week
Farming Equipment and Technology (FETF) Fund
Up to £47m will be available in a new round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) to be launched this spring and closing in March 2026.
This previously very popular scheme will offer grants of £1,000-£25,000 for equipment, technology and small infrastructure to boost productivity, improve slurry management and enhance animal health and welfare.
This spring’s FETF offer will be split between productivity and slurry measures, which will get up to £30m of grants, while animal health and welfare measures will be eligible for £16.7m of grant funding.
The list of eligible items is expected to be similar to that for last year.
Farming Innovation Programme (FIP)
Defra is also funding £63m of Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) grants.
These are available to farmers, growers and foresters who want to develop and use new, innovative methods and technologies on farm.
They are competitive grants, with up to £12.5m available to fund research to deliver the practical benefits of precision breeding technology on farm.
For example, enhanced disease resistance or reducing the need for nutrients or pesticides.
Up to £12.5m will go to projects researching technologies and practices to help transition farming towards net zero.
A further £17.6m will help develop projects towards becoming a commercial reality, from early-stage feasibility to later stage in the R&D pipeline.
Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (Adopt)
The Adopt fund provides farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants, for farmers and farm businesses to trial new technology and bridge the gap between those technologies and their on-farm application.
This spring a further £20.6m will be available for 2025-26, to help accelerate innovation to a commercial stage, support its adoption by farmers, also helping them collaborate and share knowledge.
Sustainable Farming Incentive
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) remains the main funding opportunity, says Sam Kelly, supporting the adoption of environmentally sustainable land management practices, promoting soil health, water quality, and biodiversity.
“There are a significant number of farms still not in an SFI scheme, but there are really good options that can work alongside the existing farming operation with very little impact, but offering good returns,” he says.
“Given the significant cost increases coming this spring in terms of employment costs in particular, combined with the significantly reduced de-linked payments this year, SFI can offer a good opportunity to go some way to plug the financial gap.”
Farming in Protected Landscapes
The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is also being continued, with up to £30m available until March 2026.
This offers grants for projects in national parks and national landscapes (previously known as areas of outstanding natural beauty), also in the Norfolk Broads.
These grants support projects that help nature recover, reduce the impacts of climate change, protect and enhance cultural heritage and or/improve access to and enjoyment of these landscapes.
This is a competitive programme and applications will close sooner than March 2026 if all of the £30m funding is allocated.