Last week, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that it would be offering an extension to farmers with Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid Tier agreements that are due to expire this December.

The extension is for one year, meaning that any farmers who opt for it will have a new agreement expiry date of 31st December 2026.

Explaining the reasons for the move, DEFRA stated that the additional time for Mid Tier agreements will allow farmers to “maintain the environmental outcomes… invested in over the last five years”, and for payments to continue while it develops the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026.

This news affects 5,000 farmers currently in the scheme across England, with DEFRA confirming that it is a “one-off investment” of up to £70 million coming from the current budget for live, existing agreements for 2025-26 (£1.8 billion).

How does the extension work?

Farmers with an existing agreement set to expire this year should be contacted directly by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in the coming weeks with an offer to extend.

If you want to go ahead, you must reply to the RPA before the deadline stated in the email, after which your agreement will be amended to the new end-date of December 2026. If you miss the deadline, however, you risk the extension not being granted.

Should the RPA not be in touch with you before 6th November, DEFRA’s guidance is to contact them directly to talk about your agreement extension.

If you’re contacted but don’t want to proceed, simply let the RPA know you don’t want to make any changes.

Is anything new or different eligible in the scheme extension period?

In short, no – the extension is just that. The same scheme rules, terms and conditions of your Mid Tier agreement will apply as normal across the additional 12-months.

This means that the extension can’t be used to add or change options in your current agreement. DEFRA has also specified that any capital works that aren’t complete or paid by the time the extension starts (1st January 2026) will be taken out of the agreement, and any options/supplements with a duration of less than five years cannot be extended.

More information about the extension can be found on the DEFRA blog, with the full guidance also available here.

What about Higher Tier agreements due to expire in December 2025?

There is currently no extension being offered to farmers with CS Higher Tier agreements set to expire this year.

Instead, DEFRA has said that farmers in these agreements are considered a priority contact group, with the RPA currently reaching out directly with invitations to re-apply which will be followed by pre-application advice from Natural England.

If you fall into this category, you’re not able to apply for a Higher Tier agreement again until you have received this information and been invited to proceed (though it should also be noted that an application does not guarantee acceptance as the scheme remains competitive).

You can find more information about CS Higher Tier agreement criteria and the application process on the Government website.

Revised process for 2025 Capital Grant Scheme applications

Earlier this year the 2025 Capital Grant Scheme also reopened and was met with huge demand before the application round closed in August. However, many in the industry faced disappoint, with several farmers wrongly blocked from applying due to a system error linked to previous agreements.

In a positive development, the RPA has now fixed the issue and affected applicants are being contacted directly via email with an invitation to apply again within a specific timeframe. This window is on a per-person basis, so, for example, you may be offered the window 15th – 31st October to re-submit your application, while someone else will be asked to re-submit theirs in the two weeks following.

If you had trouble applying this summer you should:

• Check your emails to see if the RPA have invited you to re-apply.

• Follow the guidance and application advice carefully.

• Take note of the application window they have offered you which will be personal to you to ensure you can get your application onto the system. Making your submission as early as you can within that time is a good idea, as it means you have time to check or follow-up if you experience any problems.

If you need help with any of the above or have questions about the funding opportunities available to you, speak to your local Frontier contact or get in touch directly by emailing info@frontierag.co.uk or calling 0800 227445.

You can also meet your local Frontier advisors at our upcoming winter meetings, which are a great opportunity ask questions about both private and public funding opportunities for your farm while networking with other farmers in the region. Find an event in your area and register online today: www.frontierag.co.uk/events