8 January 2026
Today at the Oxford Farming Conference, the Environment Secretary, Emma Reynolds, will announce the re-opening of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and her commitment to implementing the recommendations made in the Batters review.
The review showed that public money should reward farmers for delivering environmental benefits, embedding nature recovery, soil health and biodiversity into mainstream food production. It positions nature-friendly farming as essential to long-term food security, climate resilience and sustainable rural livelihoods.
Richard Benwell, Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
"It's good to have SFI back, especially with support for farmers to collaborate on nature-friendly approaches. However, this is just the groundwork after twelve turbulent months that have shaken farmers' confidence to invest in greener agriculture. Government must improve SFI further by ensuring that it pays for added nature value, not business as usual. Most importantly, SFI must be accompanied by more funding and contracts for Countryside Stewardship and Landscape Recovery, so that the SFI basics work alongside the big agricultural changes needed to restore farmland wildlife and water quality."
Latest Press Releases