FwNT Scheme Changes for Year 2

Eligibility

Farm Businesses with an active EFS agreement are eligible to apply for actions in year two of the scheme. 

Further Eligibility rules can be found at  Am I eligible for FwNT Scheme Year 2

Additional actions

In addition to the 6 actions offered in year one, a further eight actions have been added – 5 habitat creation and 3 habitat management actions. 

Additional habitat creation actions

Arable – Unharvested Cereal Margin (3–12m)
Arable – Grass Margin (3–12m)
Arable – Flower-rich Grass Margin (3–12m)

Herbal Ley
Herbal Ley Enhanced

Claiming actions in the same field

Farm businesses can apply for more than one action in the same field as long as they do not overlap, for example, planting a new hedgerow and creating a grass margin.

Management actions

Three management actions are also on offer to allow farm businesses to manage habitats and green infrastructure actions established in year one of the FwNT Scheme, these include:

Management of 7 m Riparian Buffer Strips

Management of Farmland Tree Planting

Management of Hedgerows

Management actions will be prepopulated on the map and Field Information Table (FIT) for the farm businesses who established the action in year one of the scheme. If farm businesses do not wish to claim these actions they must remove them from their application. 

Claim value and payment window

There is no minimum application threshold in year 2 of the scheme and the maximum application value has increased to £20,000.

In year two of the scheme, payment claims should be submitted in February. Payments will commence in June 2027.

Farm businesses claiming FwNT must meet Farm Sustainability Standards (FSS). A breach of the FSS will result in a penalty being applied and deducted from the FwNT payment. 

For further detail on the standard is available at FSS is available at Farm Sustainability Standards (FSS) | Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs