Grant or payment · Wales
SFS Optional: Temporary habitat creation (successor to Growing for the Environment)
Per-hectare payments for creating temporary habitat on improved land, such as mixed or herbal leys, red clover, wild bird seed, unsprayed spring cereals, winter stubbles and cover crops.
- From
- Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales
- How much
- Standard per-hectare rates (not yet published); maximum £5,000 a year; minimum 1 ha.
- Who can apply
- All eligible farm businesses; SFS claimants only once they already meet the 10% habitat requirement.
What you’ll need
- Register with Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online and get a Customer Reference Number (CRN)
- At least 1 ha of agriculturally improved land (parcels of 0.1 ha or more)
How to apply
- Watch for the technical guidance
- Apply on RPW Online when it opens
Opening listed as 'November 2026' with no exact date on the application dates page (checked 30 October 2026). No capital items such as fencing.
Similar schemes
- Capital Production and Efficiency grant (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments Wales40% grant towards standard listed equipment such as handling systems, EID and weighing kit, precision spreaders, soil aerators, boreholes and water harvesting equipment.
- Infrastructure and Equipment grant - slurry, nutrient and biosecurity (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesGrant for larger farmyard investments such as slurry stores, lagoon covers, low-emission spreaders, manure stores, silage clamps and yard drainage, plus biosecurity facilities for SFS farms.
- SFS Optional: Habitat Review (route to enhanced habitat management funding) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesRequest a free farm visit from a field support officer who draws up a five-year habitat management plan and schedule of works, which you can then apply to fund.
- Small Infrastructure grant - yard roofing (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesGrant for new roofing over livestock feeding, gathering or manure storage areas to keep clean rainwater out of dirty yards.
- Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2027 - tapered Coming soonWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesThe legacy BPS for farms that have not joined the SFS, being cut each year until it ends after 2028.
- Integrated Natural Resources Scheme (INRS) Coming soonWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesCompetitive funding for collaborative groups of farmers, foresters and others to develop and deliver landscape or catchment-scale nature projects; the next window will focus on water quality.
Checked against the official pages on 29 October 2026. Sources: 1, 2. Always read the official page before you apply.