Farmers who want to claim the new area-based Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) in 2026 must submit an eligible application by 15 May 2026 and activate at least three entitlements on 3ha, the Department has confirmed.

The new requirement applies to everyone in 2026, including those who passed the so-called ‘historic years exercise’, which assessed agricultural activity in 2020 and 2021.

It is understood that around 1,900 businesses received letters from DAERA in 2025 which pointed out there was no record of eligible agricultural activity by these farms in 2020 and/or 2021, so they would not be able to claim FSP in 2026.

If these businesses don’t either gift or sell their entitlements by 15 May 2026, the entitlements will be lost. Approximately 200 businesses in receipt of letters have queried the original assessment by DAERA.

If they are able to prove activity in 2020 and/or 2021, they will still have to meet the same eligibility conditions as everyone else in 2026.

Maintain land

In practice, it means all farmers must undertake agricultural activity on at least 3ha this year by the likes of growing crops, grazing animals, or in its simplest form, just maintaining the area “in a state which makes it suitable for grazing or cultivation”.

That includes farmers who were active in 2020 and/or 2021, but in recent years, have been leasing out all their entitlements. If these farmers want to ensure they hold on to all their entitlements beyond any lease agreement, they must activate at least three entitlements in 2026.

Rules

Land eligibility rules have been simplified this year, with rush, bog, scrub and bracken all eligible to claim payments. In all situations, fields used to activate entitlements should be at least 0.1ha in size, at your disposal on 15 May and have a recognised boundary such as a permanent fence or hedge. The likes of marker posts can be used if it is not possible to erect a fence.

Ideally, only mapped fields on DAERA’s land parcel identification system (LPIS) are used to claim this year. Unmapped land can be added to LPIS, but proof of title may be required which could delay payments.

Back in

For those landowners who didn’t pass the historic years exercise and have sold their entitlements in 2026, there is nothing in the current legislation to stop them buying entitlements in 2027 and leasing these entitlements thereafter.

It is anticipated that DAERA will confirm the value of 2026 Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) entitlements in the next couple of weeks. Those values are likely to be similar to 2025 (when payments averaged around £100 per acre), with some of the overall pot again used to fund ongoing beef schemes, as well as the likes of protein crops.

However, that situation is expected to change from 2027 onwards, with the roll-out of the Farming with Nature (FwN) scheme later this year. Just how much future funding gets directed at FwN will depend on farmer uptake.

“The objective [for the FSP] is to provide a basic safety net for farm businesses. It is not going to stay static – more money is going to come out of that FSP to support a lot of other measures,” Francis Breen from CAFRE told a Sustainable Agriculture Programme awareness event in Omagh last Thursday.

Last September, farmers also received an 8% uplift to payments, worth just over £8 per acre, which was effectively the department paying out unused funds from its annual budget.

However, money for the likes of FwN won’t just come from applying a cut to all FSP entitlements. There is also the principle of progressive capping to apply this year.

In recent years, area-based payments have been limited to a maximum of £190,000, but in 2026, progressive reductions will now start at £60,000. The changes are being implemented over a two-year period and mean that the maximum FSP in 2026 is £153,000, falling to £116,000 in 2027.

Only around 200 farm businesses are impacted, with approximately £2m added back into the overall payment pot.

Looking ahead, we are now into the third year of a four-year Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) scheme, which pays out £75 per head for eligible beef cattle.

In the first year, £19.8m was paid out to 8,000 farm businesses, which equates to around 7% of the overall budget for direct payments.

There is no guarantee the scheme will continue beyond 2027, which would free up this budget for FwN or schemes in other sectors such as arable and sheep, currently being lobbied for by the Ulster Farmers’ Union.

There are still a significant number of beef farmers who are missing out on potential payments in the £75 per head Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) scheme.

The payment goes to the person who owned the animal at least 60 days out of the last 100 days of life, so farmers who sell heavy animals in a mart can still get the money.

They simply need to opt in via the DAERA website and be in receipt of the Farm Sustainability Payment in 2026.

The latest analysis by DAERA shows that 74% of clean beef cattle slaughtered in NI are eligible for payment, thereby meeting conditions around origin and age at slaughter. In total, 89% of farm businesses considered eligible for payments have opted in, confirmed Francis Breen.

Sucklers

While the BCR scheme is now in its third year, the new suckler cow payment of £100 per head started last April, so the first year runs to the end of March 2026.

The department anticipates around 12,000 farm businesses are eligible for payments and to date, 76% have opted in.

Over the first nine months, 113,000 potentially eligible calving events have been recorded on NIFAIS.

The department anticipates around 12,000 farm businesses are eligible for payments and to date, 76% have opted in

A Farming with Nature (FwN) transition scheme opened last year with five different measures attracting payments.

While it is expected that a new scheme with more measures will open within the next few months, no definitive timeline was given at the CAFRE meeting in Omagh.

At the event, Francis Breen said business case approvals and legislation are still required, but the plan is to expand the eligibility criteria, allowing farmers in the previous Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) to apply to FwN.

He added that rates of payment should increase in line with costs, with the £2,500 threshold in the transition scheme likely to be reduced, while a £9,500 ceiling will probably be increased.

Despite previous indications that FwN would be opened up to non-farming landowners (not in receipt of FSP), they are to remain excluded in 2026.

Higher

The new FwN scheme is also to include a replacement for EFS Higher, which is mainly for designated land and priority habitats, and also new landscape scale projects where farmers come together to protect and manage a particular feature.

The department hopes to have 10 projects up and running in the first year, each involving 5 to 50 farms working together across a minimum of 500ha.

The Department is to launch a new farm Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme (SFIS) “later this spring” although it is still subject to legislation and business case approval, confirmed Francis Breen at the CAFRE meeting in Omagh.

The new grant scheme will effectively replace previous Tier 1 grants, so farmers will be provided with a list of eligible items and associated reference prices.

“DAERA staff are working on list of eligible items and their price,” said Breen.

However, he added that it won’t be on a competitive basis, so farmers will not receive more marks for seeking a grant at under the reference price.

“If it is a 40% grant there will be a 40% grant on it,” he explained.

He also indicated that eligible items will be those that improve environmental performance and business efficiency.

“It will not be for items on your farm that just need replaced. For example, I don’t think you are going to see cattle trailers on it,” he explained.

Farmers who missed out on joining new CAFRE Business Sustainability Groups last year, will have the opportunity to join in 2026, confirmed Francis Breen. At present there are 1,449 farm businesses in groups across various sectors, with each group having five meetings per year. Members get £445 per year to support the collection of data and £786 for hosting a meeting.

“There may be some people drop off which will allow others to come on,” said Breen.

He also confirmed that 400 farmers have signed up to take part across 17 groups which will concentrate on improving suckler cow fertility, while other themed groups are planned. Farmers who host meetings get £786. The Department is also working on various innovation schemes, including a new innovation visits programme where groups can go to look at new technologies etc in other parts of the world.

A network of innovation farms will be set up this year, initially involving seven dairy and seven beef farms, but extending to 42 farms over the next few years.

There is also an innovation partnerships programme for groups of farmers to work together to solve particular issues.