The unexpected closure of SFI, on 11^th March 2025, left the whole farming community in shock, and mostly in disappointment at the lack of information received from the RPA in the lead up to the announcement.  To summarise, anyone already in a scheme will not be affected by the closure of the scheme and agreements will be honoured up until 2028. 

RPA have suggested that they will be revising the offer for SFI and relaunching in 2026.  As this is budget related, we don’t anticipate it being before April and would imagine it will have a financial cap on agreement values to be able to control the spending.

Although RPA are congratulating themselves on a job well done, many farmers are left with only 24% of the delinked reference amount, to look forward to arriving in August.

RPA have announced a further round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in spring 2025 and reopening of the Standalone Capital Grant in summer 2025.