Minister Andrew Muir welcomes strong uptake of the 2026 Farming with Nature Transition Scheme
Date published:
Northern Ireland’s farming community has once again shown its commitment to enhancing biodiversity and nature.
Applications for the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme closed on Friday 31 July, attracting more than 1,700 applications, with a combined value of £12.37 million. The 94% increase in applications compared with 2025 demonstrates the growing momentum behind Farming with Nature and the strong appetite among farmers to take part in the Scheme.
Minister Muir said: “I am delighted at the strong response from farmers to the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme. I am particularly pleased to see a significant increase in applications this year, demonstrating the willingness of farm businesses across Northern Ireland to take practical action to support nature while enhancing the sustainability of their farms.”
Farm businesses will start to receive email notification on the outcome of their application in the coming weeks. Applicants are reminded that scheme actions must not commence until formal approval has been granted.
Minister Muir went on to say: “Once approved, I urge successful applicants to move forward with their chosen actions, helping to deliver important environmental gains for biodiversity, water quality and the wider countryside, while strengthening the sustainability and resilience of their farm businesses.”
Now in its second year, the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme, which forms part of the Department’s Sustainable Agriculture Programme, gave farmers the flexibility to select from 14 environmental actions best suited to their farm business, whether arable, livestock or mixed.
Eligible applicants could apply for support of up to £20,000 per farm. Applicants have applied for over 10,000 environment actions including: 535 km of new hedges; over 207 km of riparian buffers to protect waterways; 69 hectares of new tree planting; 758 hectares of herbal ley (a multispecies mix for grazing that improves soil heath, reduces the need for fertilisers and promotes biodiversity); and 5,366 hectares of actions on arable land.
The Scheme is targeted at agricultural land outside of designated sites and other priority habitat and species areas. By incorporating environmental data into the application system, risks of unintended impacts on sensitive habitats and species are minimised while ensuring environmental measures are delivered in locations where they can provide the greatest benefit for nature and biodiversity.
As the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme develops, the underlying environmental data and the eligibility criteria will be kept under review and refined where necessary to maximise opportunities for farmers to undertake appropriate and beneficial environmental actions on their land.
DAERA has confirmed that further strands of the Farming with Nature Package are under development and will provide support for environmental action on agricultural land within designated sites and other priority habitat and species areas, creating additional opportunities for farm businesses to participate in future years.
Further information about the Sustainable Agriculture Programme and the schemes within the FwN Package.
Notes to editors:
- The Farming with Nature Transition Scheme in the first strand of the Farming with Nature Package and a key element of DAERA’s Sustainable Agriculture Programme.
- The main source of funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Programme is the NI Executive’s Earmarked Agriculture, Agri-Environment and Rural Development Budget.
- 2025 FwNT application figures for comparison: 876 applications; £5.67 million total value; 277km of hedge; 116 km of riparian margins; 38 ha of trees; 1731ha of arable.
- Farm businesses should regularly check their emails including junk folders for their decision notification.
- Further information on Sustainable Agriculture Programme can be found at: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/topics/sustainable-agriculture-programme.
- Further information on the Farming with Nature Package and Farming with Nature Transition Scheme can be found at: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/farming-nature-package.
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- All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk or telephone: 028 9016 3460.
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours’ service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.