The first payments under Northern Ireland’s new Farming with Nature Transition Scheme have begun issuing to farmers, marking a significant milestone in the region’s efforts to reverse biodiversity decline. Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir confirmed today that £2.7 million is being released to 489 farm businesses who completed environmental works by March 2026, with applications for a second year of the scheme opening next week.
The payments represent the first tangible returns from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (DAERA) Sustainable Agriculture Programme, which aims to replace the previous Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) with a new model that pays farmers for delivering environmental public goods alongside food production.
Year One Achievements on the Ground
Since launching in 2025, the transition scheme has supported farmers to plant more than 134 kilometres of new hedgerows and 28 acres of trees, while creating over 35 kilometres of riparian buffer strips to protect watercourses. Participants have also established 670 hectares of multi-species winter cover crops and retained just over 836 hectares of winter stubble across farmland, providing vital food sources for birds such as the red-listed Yellowhammer and Barn Owl.
These actions form part of a phased approach designed to increase the extent, condition and connectivity of habitats on farmed land. The scheme requires participants to complete works by specific deadlines—31 March 2026 for most actions, with winter stubble and cover crops retained until 15 February 2026—before submitting payment claims during the March window.
Minister Welcomes Progress
Speaking as the first tranche of funding was released, Minister Muir emphasised the scheme’s dual purpose of supporting both nature and farm businesses:
“I am delighted to see the first payments issuing to farm businesses under the Sustainable Agriculture Programme’s Farming with Nature Package. The Farming with Nature Scheme is critical to help arrest and reverse the declines in farmland nature, whilst delivering a range of important environmental public goods such as improvement in water quality and carbon sequestration, alongside food production.”
The Minister confirmed that Year 2 of the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme will open for applications from 30 June to 31 July 2026, offering enhanced flexibility, greater choice and new actions shaped by stakeholder feedback. Further strands of the package, including landscape-scale projects and priority habitat schemes, remain under development for 2026/27.
Minister Muir added:
“The success of the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme in its first year is just the beginning. As the Scheme opens for Year 2, I look forward to seeing it continue to grow in both participation and the range of farmland options offered in order to maximise the positive environmental impact.”
Context and Unanswered Questions
While the first payments mark progress, the scheme enters a landscape where nature-friendly farming has been severely under-resourced. According to the 2023 State of Nature report, just 4.8% of Northern Ireland’s agricultural land sits within agri-environment schemes—far below the 20.7% in England, 21.9% in Scotland and 28.5% in Wales. The previous Environmental Farming Scheme (Higher) ended for many participants in 2023, leaving a gap that has seen some farmers, such as those managing peatlands or barn owl habitats, struggling to maintain conservation work without financial support.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union has welcomed the collaborative approach taken in designing the new package, with representatives sitting on working groups alongside environmental organisations. However, questions remain about whether the funding levels—drawn from a ring-fenced agricultural budget—will match the scale of the biodiversity crisis, particularly given that agriculture is identified as the primary driver of biodiversity loss in Northern Ireland.
Key considerations for the scheme’s future include:
- Whether the current £2.7 million disbursement and planned Year 2 expansion represent sufficient investment to move beyond isolated habitat creation toward genuine landscape-scale connectivity
- How DAERA will measure tangible biodiversity outcomes—such as species population recovery—rather than simply recording hectares planted or retained
- What support is available for farmers who were unable to complete Year 1 actions by the March deadline due to adverse weather, given that extensions were not possible and incomplete work rendered claims ineligible
- How the Department will ensure that funding transferred from the Basic Payment Scheme to environmental schemes adequately compensates farmers for income foregone
- Whether the planned priority habitat strand launching later in 2026 will prioritise those farmers who lost EFS (Higher) agreements and have been awaiting replacement support since 2023
How to Participate
Farmers wishing to apply for Year 2 should prepare for the 30 June opening date. Claims must be submitted online via DAERA’s portal, and participants must retain all invoices and supporting documentation. Those requiring assistance can contact the Grants and Funding helpline on 0300 200 7848 or email FarmingwithNature@daera-ni.gov.uk. Farm businesses are also reminded to register for a DAERA online account to receive electronic notifications regarding applications and payments.
With the claim window for Year 1 now closed and payments commencing, attention turns to whether Year 2 can attract significantly higher participation to begin closing the gap with other UK regions and deliver the “nature-friendly farming” scale-up that ministers have promised.