Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department made before 22 September 2026 of the total value of applications to be made to Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2.

Defra expected strong initial demand and made clear before the window opened that its duration would depend on the rate of applications. Ministers allocated an additional £50 million before opening and subsequently added a further £20 million, bringing Window 2 funding to £253 million. Around 12,200 applications were submitted in Window 2.