The Source

In this post, we explain what to expect from the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer in 2026. We also share the list of the 71 actions available in the new offer, with payment rates.

The application window for the next round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF 2026) will open on 17 March.

Key Messages: The ideal Oilseed Rape (OSR) crop ideotype should have larger, but not just thicker canopies for more efficient and effective light capture. It should also produce a higher-than-average number of seeds per m2 and better than average seed filling. High yielding crops tend to be sown and develop 5-10 days later. They are also associated with higher manuring frequency especially in the autumn. Deep non-inversion establishment most is the common strategy (move soil when needed) (Speaker: Thomas Wilkinson, ADAS)

This paper is an assignment submitted to De Montfort University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of LLM in Environmental Law by Andrew Brown. It shows how the UK system of town and country planning goes some way to protecting the environment but that there is more that could be done to further that aim.

While global wheat supplies remain comfortable on paper, several supportive elements are emerging. Strong exports, constrained Black Sea flows, South American weather, and above all geopolitical tension in the Middle East create a developing risk profile. Downside pressure may continue to be gradual, but any external shocks, particularly through energy markets, could trigger a swift and meaningful rebound, providing new selling opportunities. In that context, UK wheat prices look open to upside potential if global events break in a supportive direction.

A review from researchers at Northwest A&F University outlines a framework for breeding crops that enhance soil carbon storage while maintaining — or even improving — productivity. Crops should be bred to not only bring higher yields, but store more carbon, according to Chinese researchers — who also set the stall out for how it could be done.

Our approach integrates farm operational and production data, remote sensed imagery and data, ecological modelling and state and transition models to generate accounts that contain verifiable information about the extent and condition of natural capital assets, indicators of the ability of these assets to generate a range of intermediate and final ecosystem services (e.g. habitat maintenance for biodiversity, forage for livestock, carbon sequestration, pollination, soil regulation, shade and shelter) and environmental performance at the farm scale.

The Renters’ Right Act 2025 (“the Act”) represents one of the most significant reforms to residential letting law in recent decades. Although much of the public conversation focuses on the urban rental market, the Act will have important implications for farmers, estate owners, advisers and rural businesses who let cottages, farmhouses, or tied accommodation. This article provides an overview of the key changes and explores how they may affect occupancy arrangements within the rural economy.

Minimizing the use of artificial fertilizer nitrogen (AFN) and optimizing conditions for biologically fixed nitrogen (BFN) in association with clover is a cost-effective strategy for lowering emissions from dairy farms. The objectives of the present study were to examine the productivity of clover-BFN-grassland for pasture and milk production, to quantify the BFN that underpinned this productivity, spring growth and the length of the growing season, nutritive value of pasture at different stages of the growing season and feed budgets.  

High yields have lower C footprints per tonne of output and so make economic sense for farm businesses. Moving beyond land sharing vs land sparing. An integrated place-based approach. Yield is king... in the right contexts

Recent evidence from a major US-EU study concludes that innovation-led productivity growth has been the single most important factor limiting agricultural emissions globally, enabling more food to be produced with less environmental impact. Meanwhile, Defra’s National Security Assessment warns that biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse threaten global food supplies, making UK reliance on imports increasingly risky. And research led by Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge further shows that farm policies which reduce UK food production can displace environmental damage to more biodiverse regions overseas, worsening global biodiversity loss.

We need a crop husbandry strategy that deals with the long-term climate trends for warmer conditions and the greater likelihood of very high temperatures, whilst also being resilient to seasonal challenges of long dry or wet periods. We do not know the weather conditions of the growing season before it happens, so we need to grow crops that are resilient to both dry and wet condition. A few key factors to get right include: maximising rooting depth, ensure sufficient N and P for canopy longevity and achieving well drained fields.