Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 - how can it support drought tolerance?
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 window re-opens on the 22 September, which will be a welcome relief for many farmers and growers. After the repeated heatwaves this summer, many may be thinking longer term about drought tolerance and the resilience of cropping rotations.
So, what options can help deliver both financial and environmental resilience? This blog outlines the SFI top picks that can support farm productivity:
Practices that can deliver drought tolerance with SFI support:
Legumes and companion cropping
Legumes have an essential role in attempts to reduce nitrogen costs and imported soyabeans – this is important when both extreme weather and conflicts are impacting the countries we bring these products in from. Legumes have always been associated with improved soil structure and health, which can improve drought resilience, as well as using atmospheric nitrogen. Intercropping, growing pulses alongside a cereal crop such as Boats (beans and oats), can be a way of minimising risk in break crops. Evidence shows increased total production per hectare, with seasons determining which crop benefits most. This practice can also provide support or protection for new crops that are usually grown in drier climates and are becoming more viable, such as chickpeas and lentils.
In grassland, legumes like red clover, lucerne or sainfoin can replace artificial nitrogen and provide higher quality forage for livestock that can hold up better in dry conditions, while also reducing protein imports to farm.
SFI options:
· CIPM3 companion cropping £55/ha.
· CNUM2 legumes in grassland option £102/ha (for permanent grassland).
· CNUM3 legume fallow option at £532/ha (useful as a break crop option to build soil health but without a harvestable crop to sell).
Herbal leys
Deep rooting, self-fertilising forage which also improves soil structure and soil health. Herbal leys reduce dependency on fertiliser and offer cheaper forage than the traditional ryegrass leys. They do need to be managed slightly differently, with mixes often being suited to outdoor grazing or longer periods between cuts for winter forage, compared with traditional ryegrass leys. But ryegrass leys are more prone to drought as they are often shallow rooting, whereas herbal leys have much deeper tap roots that can access water for longer.
The best type of herbal ley will depend on your system, but this year farmers using mixes with cocksfoot, fescues and chicory have been able to graze for much longer than monoculture leys.
SFI option:
· CSAM3 herbal leys, although at a reduced payment rate of £224/ha.
Cover crops
Also known as green manures, cover crops provide an excellent way to keep soil covered over winter or between summer crops. They increase soil organic matter and overall soil resilience, which is essential as we increasingly deal with periods that are either too wet or too dry. Often mixes are grazeable allowing the incorporation of livestock onto arable farms, which can again reduce reliance on imported inputs and improve soil health. The SFI support for this practice provides a relatively easy way of improving the water-holding capacity of soils.
SFI options:
· CSAM3 multi-species winter cover crops £129/ha.
· SOH3 multi-species summer sown cover crops £163/ha.
Hedgerow management
Hedges provide shade and shelter for both livestock and crops, plus food sources for beneficial birds and insects, organic matter and even food and timber. They provide a wide range of nature-friendly benefits as well as their traditional role of acting as field and farm boundaries, and they are even being used to separate soil types which need different forms of management. Farmers are finding that well managed hedgerows can provide additional forage for their livestock when grass growth is impacted by drought, and grass can also perform better near to hedges in dry conditions.
SFI option:
• CHRW2 manage hedgerows pays £13/100m per side of hedge. Agroforestry
Despite understandable reservations from some, it is increasingly clear that integrating trees into farmland can be a great ally to farmers as part of resilience planning. Planting rows of trees with wide spaces (50m) allows farming to continue between the rows and can add enterprises to the business - short rotation coppice as an energy crop and/or fruit trees for short term income, or timber in the long term. The associated grass strips at the base of the trees also offer integrated pest management opportunities by harbouring beneficial insects to tackle pests. And in mixed farming trees also provide shade from sun and rain and can support animal health and diets through browsing. Farmers are also finding that trees can provide their crops with vital shelter from the wind, which can accelerate soils drying out.
SFI options:
· AGF1 Low density agroforestry of up to 50 trees per ha is £248/ha.
· AGF2 Higher density, up to 120 trees is £385 per ha.
What to consider – tips and advice
Take a whole-farm view and consider spreading your risk with mixed farming
Mixed farming with a more diverse system has seen more resilience than single enterprise systems. The incorporation of livestock into arable systems, or the ability to use home grown crops for livestock, helps de-risk the business and makes it more adaptable. With SFI being based on practices rather than outcomes, each action can be adapted to suit the farm. Overwinter cover crops can be grazed, herbal leys can be a break crop in an arable rotation and companion crops can be used to produce a high protein cereal for feeding.
Look for how SFI can support what you’re already doing
You may be doing things already that you can get paid for. Things like hedge-trimming – if you’re already paying to do it, this could save you money. There are also a range of options which can suit grassland, and often without the additional costs of replanting regularly, with the management being no different than the current system.
Don’t just follow the money and think long-term
Make sure the options you choose make sense for your long-term business model. There may be things you can put in place that don’t pay very much but they might cut costs or support changes that would make your business more resilient and profitable in the long-term. Herbal leys are a good example of this, they could make your system simpler while cutting costs. Don’t just choose something because there’s money behind it – make sure it suits your business model.
Don’t think of SFI as free money – think about cash flow
A change in mindset can help the SFI to feel more useful. It isn’t free money – SFI options often come with some costs, for example for seed, planting, management, time or changing rotations. But it can help with your cash flow by supporting you to carry out actions for resilience. Selection of options which fit rotations, improve soil health or simplify systems have benefits in the long term by increasing both farm and farmer resilience when pressure is on.
Get independent advice and use farmer networks
Independent farm advisors like those working with Soil Association Exchange are a vital resource in navigating which funding options might work best for your farm.
Is your farm on Exchange? Use our funding tool
Our funding tool helps farmers explore public funding schemes. This innovative tool tool can help you find, apply for, and evidence actions to meet funding requirements like SFI.
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