‘Worse than the scramble for Oasis tickets’: England’s sustainable farming funds run out in just six hours

Farmers have faced a tough year with extreme heat, droughts and soaring fertiliser costs. Farmers have faced a tough year with extreme heat, droughts and soaring fertiliser costs. Farming ‘Worse than the scramble for Oasis tickets’: England’s sustainable farming funds run out in just six hours Entire £233m budget for 2026 allocated in less than a day, leaving thousands of farmers disappointed

Prefer the Guardian on Google Thousands of farmers have been left empty-handed with the government’s 2026 nature funding spent in just six hours.

The £233m sustainable farming incentive (SFI) scheme opened for applications from farmers at 10am on Tuesday.

SFI is part of a package of payments that replaced the EU’s common agricultural policy, paying farmers to look after nature, soil and other public goods, rather than simply for farming and owning land.