One substantive change: the payment rate has been reduced.
That reduction applies only to SFI26 agreements. If you already hold this action under SFI23 or SFI24, your existing rate is unaffected.
Herbal leys is the largest action in the scheme by money paid - £177.2m across 16,790 agreements in 2025. No other SFI26 rate change applies to a base that size.
Establish and maintain a herbal ley: a mix of grasses, legumes and herbs or wildflowers, giving varied root structures and flowering plants from late spring through summer.
The aim is a high volume of forage with minimal inorganic fertiliser, while improving soil structure and biology.
Where you can do it. Agricultural land below the moorland line that is an eligible land type, registered with an eligible land cover on your RPA digital maps, and declared with a compatible land use code.
It is rotational. The area you enter in year one sets the maximum for years two and three. You can move it within that maximum by making an annual rotational-actions declaration.
