Please note that these updates are provided directly by Defra and are not written by Land App.
This month, Defra has shared the following announcements:
Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) Window 2 budget fully allocated following strong farmer demand
On 22 September, the second application window for the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) closed after attracting strong demand from farmers and land managers across England.
Farmers will receive almost a third of a billion pounds each year for three years under new SFI26 agreements, equalling nearly a billion pounds invested in resilient farming. Approximately 12,200 applications were submitted during Window 2.
The Rural Payments Agency is now processing applications in submission order, although some will require additional checks, and farmers who receive an agreement offer will need to accept it within 30 days.
Defra has confirmed that the Sustainable Farming Incentive will continue in 2027 and has committed to working with farming organisations and the wider sector to refine the scheme while providing greater stability and certainty for farmers. As part of this, Defra are exploring alternatives to a first come, first served application process for SFI in 2027.
Defra have published further information on SFI26 Window 2 uptake, the additional funding provided and early statistics, alongside plans to improve the scheme for 2027.
Read the full update in this Farming Blog.
Nutrient Management Planning Tool update – understand the value of your manure!
A new update to Defra’s Nutrient Management Planning Tool (NMPT-GB) makes it easier for farmers and land managers to estimate the nutrients supplied by organic manures, as well as their financial value.
Defra’s Nutrient Management Planning Tool (NMPT-GB) is a free, easy-to-use online tool that helps farmers and land managers plan and manage nutrients to match soil and crop needs. The tool helps farmers reduce costs and keep records that support compliance with environmental regulations.
The NMPT-GB tool now includes an accessible and user-friendly organic manure nutrient calculator which replaces the now outdated MANNER-NPK (Manure Nitrogen Evaluation Routine – Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash) tool. The functionality is available as a standalone tool so users can estimate nutrient availability from organic manures and their financial value without completing a full nutrient management plan.
You can access the new update on the NMPT-GB webpage, or read more about the tool’s functionality on Defra’s farming blog. For more information about how the tool can support decision-making on farms, watch our recent webinar here.
Use of NMPT-GB is entirely voluntary. Regulators do not have access to farm-specific data entered into the tool. Information from the tool is not used by Defra for compliance purposes, however, users may choose to use outputs from the tool to help support or demonstrate compliance where they consider it helpful.
£13 million to turn farming’s best ideas into real-world tools
Applications for the Small R&D Partnerships (Round 5) competition opened on Tuesday 1 September.
This £13 million competition supports collaborative research and development projects, providing grants of £1-3 million to help promising ideas move closer to rolling out across England’s farms.
Farmers face challenges ranging from dealing with animal disease, to protecting crops from pests. This grant will give agricultural researchers, farmers and agri-tech businesses the funding needed to push forward promising ideas in development into practical tools and technology to help solve these everyday problems.
This is the latest part of the £123 million available this year through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP), following the recent £53 million funding boost. Investing in homegrown technology is part of Defra’s long-term commitment, and key to delivering the vision of the Farming Roadmap in helping to ensure England’s farms are profitable, productive and resilient.
The announcement followed the opening of applications for the £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund, helping farmers and land managers work together to cut costs, share knowledge and build resilience.
Find out more about the FIP Small R&D Partnerships grant and how it’s helping to solve more everyday farming challenges in this Defra Farming Blog post.
£225 million Capital Grants successfully allocated
On 1 September, Defra announced that the Capital Grants 2026 offer had closed as the budget had been fully allocated.
With a 50% increase on the 2025 budget and around 17,000 applications submitted in under 5 weeks, this has been the fastest uptake for the offer to help farmers and land managers carry out environmental improvements across England.
You can read more from Oliver Munn, Rural Payments Agency’s Chief Executive, who shares some early reflections on the data and the environmental ambition they represent in this Defra Farming Blog post.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – published guidance on HMRC sign-ups and exemptions
HMRC led sign-ups
On 12 August, HMRC published a press release confirming that, from September 2026, it would begin signing up customers who are required to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for the 2026–27 tax year but have not yet enrolled. This is intended to help affected customers meet their legal obligations.
HMRC said the sign-up process would be phased over the following months. It also committed to publishing guidance in late August explaining what customers should do if they receive a letter confirming that HMRC has signed them up for MTD for Income Tax.
Guidance for customers
HMRC published the promised guidance on 24 August. Sole traders and landlords who receive a sign-up letter can now use Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK. HMRC has also added call-out boxes and refreshed the messaging on its step by step guidance and sign-up pages for sole traders, landlords and agents.
Digital exclusion exemptions
HMRC has also begun accepting exemption applications for the 2027–28 tax year from customers who consider themselves digitally excluded. Further information is available at: Apply for an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK.
