Defra gives more time for farmers hit by SFI26 technical glitches

Farmers who tried to get into the 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI26) and failed due to technical glitches are being given an extended chance to apply.

Initially, Defra said it would allow two small “exception groups” to continue their applications, as long as they had contacted the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) before window 2 closed on 22 September.

These two groups were:

• Farmers who needed the RPA to provide digital assistance to complete an application on their behalf (“Assisted digital” farmers)
• Farmers who had started an application but did not submit it in time because they encountered technical issues (“Started not submitted” farmers, or SNS)

Given that window 2 was open for less than six hours before the money ran out, Defra has now decided to extend the “technical issue” exception group to include:

• A small number of additional SNS farmers who reported valid technical issues up to one week after window 2 closed
• Other farmers who had submitted applications affected by a valid technical issue before window 2 closed, and reported that issue up to one week after window 2 closed.

These farmers will be allowed to amend their applications to include elements that the system should have allowed them to apply for.

“This is a targeted response to the specific set of circumstances for window 2,” said a Defra statement. “It does not set a precedent for how we will approach exception groups in future.”

Defra says the RPA is continuing to work through queries received from farmers and agents as quickly as possible, including reports of technical issues.

“Some farmers and agents have reported that a technical issue prevented them from applying for SFI actions which they expected to be available,” said the statement.

“However, in many of these cases, the system correctly prevented them from applying for combinations of ineligible actions.”

Such applications will not be considered as a technical issue exception.