ADAS agri-business consultants can help you apply for and manage agri-environment schemes in England and Wales. Our practical advice can include:
With an in-depth understanding of farm business management and wildlife, we will work with you to create an application that is best suited to the needs of your business.
Through the application process, we can liaise on your behalf with Natural England, Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers, Local Planning Authorities and the Environment Agency. We can also prepare the supporting information and evidence required to support your application.
For those in ongoing schemes, we can ensure that the requirements of the scheme are fully understood and complied with. For example, we can assist with:
For those in ongoing schemes, we can ensure that the requirements of the scheme are fully understood and complied with. For example, we can assist with:
CSHT provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers to look after and manage land in a way that protects, restores, or enhances the environment or mitigates the effects of climate change. These multi-year management grants and capital grants can be used to:
CSHT agreements will last for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years. This will depend on the actions in your agreement with the longest duration. For 2025, there are 99 base actions and 33 supplemental actions.
The current options and payments can be found on the GOV.UK website. Full requirements are listed on GOV.UK’s Find funding webpage.
In 2025 applications for CSHT have been rolled out in a controlled way, by invitation only, with pre-application advice from the relevant department such as Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
Advice will be offered initially to those with an existing agreement due to expire in 2025. The pre application phase will discuss the range of actions and capital items available and most appropriate for your site. You will not be able to apply until your existing agreement has expired, therefore pre pre-application preparation could be key to minimising any funding gap between agreements.
Natural England or the Forestry Commission will prioritise applicants with approved plans already in place. You may be able to apply for capital grants to help you prepare plans to support a future CSHT application
If you receive an invitation, it is important to respond within 10 working days to confirm your interest to begin the pre-application process
CSMT will not be available for new agreements from 2025.
Farmers with existing agreements that started in 2021 and are due to expire at the end of 2025 will be offered a one-year extension to 31 December 2026 to maintain their environmental outcomes and continue receiving payments. Further updates will follow in 2026 once the Environmental Improvement plan has been finalised and development of the updated Sustainable Farming Incentive is complete.
Extended agreements will be subject to the existing CS agreement rules and terms and conditions.
During the extension period, it will not be possible to add, remove or replace options or capital items. Any incomplete capital items will be removed from the agreement when the extension begins. Options with less than 5 years duration will not be extended.
You may need to confirm the retention of management control over the agreement land for the extended period. If you have Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) present, consent will be required from Natural England to maintain the ongoing management requirements.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will contact affected agreement holders who will need to reply by the date stated on the offer to accept the extension for the agreement to continue after December 2025.
Whilst the offers of extensions are welcome, current advice for expiring agreement holders would be to start to consider which of the ongoing schemes might be an appropriate replacement.
For some, CSHT may be a possibility, mainly in areas where priority habitats or historic environment features could warrant protection or enhancement. The expectation is that SFI when it reopens in 2026, should be the preferred replacement for the majority of expiring CSMT agreements. it is worth thinking about which SFI actions might offer the best continuity of existing benefits from CSMT, or if planning any changes, which might be most beneficial to your farming system. Early preparation and planning could be fundamental to having the best chances of securing a new future agreement that meets your requirements.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive has been closed to new applications since March 2025.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) aim is to help farmers manage land in an environmentally sustainable way. Initially the SFI focused on four core elements :
The scheme is currently undergoing a review and reform following the 2025 Spending Review. Initially plans were to announce a new scheme in summer 2025, however given ministerial changes, current indications are that the new reformed scheme may not now become available until spring 2026.
The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is open to all farmers and land managers within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a National Park in England, or the Broads. The scheme has been extended until March 2026.
The programme will pay for projects that provide value for money and result in at least one climate, nature, people, or place outcome.
Your project must also support the priorities of your protected landscape body’s management plan. Contact your local protected landscape body for advice about whether your land or project is eligible.
Our teams of FACTs and Basis qualified agricultural and agribusiness consultants can offer clear, practical on-farm advice on all aspects of business management, agri environment, soil health and nutrient planning.
If you are interested in an agri-environment scheme and would like advice about applying, please contact us through our enquiry form below.
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