Across the Weald to Waves Corridor, our farmers and land manager members are working tirelessly to produce food sustainably.  One of the fundamental support mechanisms for promoting nature-friendly farming are agri-environment subsidies offered by the government which incentivise farmers to adopt sustainable food production while protecting farm profitability. However, 2025 has been marked by increasing uncertainty as many of these subsidies have been closed or paused with no set timeline for reopening. Despite this, temporary relief has come to many farmers and land managers as the government recently announced guaranteed continued support to the end of 2026 for all land managers in Countryside Stewardship mid-tier agreements.  

On the 15th of October DEFRA announced their intention to offer 1-year extensions to any Countryside Stewardship mid-tier agreements due to expire at the end of December 2025. All extensions will begin on the 1st of January 2026 and end on the 31st of December 2026. This decision will provide continued government support for up to 5,000 farmers currently delivering nature-friendly farming actions, while the replacement Sustainable Farming Incentive grant (SFI) remains under review.  

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will send extension offers by post or email. To accept the offer, you will need to respond to the RPA via email or post before the date given on the offer. If a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is located on land included in the agreement, you will also need to obtain new SSSI consent from Natural England. If you do not own the land, you may also need to obtain landlord consent. If you do not wish to accept the offer you will still need to inform the RPA of this decision. 

Throughout your extension you must follow the same terms and conditions as your original agreement. The extension cannot be used as an opportunity to add, remove, or replace options in the current agreement. Options lasting less than 5 years will not be extended, and outstanding capital actions will be removed from the agreement. The claim for the additional year will need to be submitted in the usual way.    

If you are eligible for an extension, but have not received an offer by the 6th of November, contact the Rural Payments Agency. The offering of these extensions is a great time to re-evaluate the current funding you access on your farm and how you see this changing in future. To read the full government guidance and understand what extending may mean for you, please follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/countryside-stewardship-cs-mid-tier-extensions-for-2021-agreements.