Key Information
Key Information
How to Use the SFS Template
1. Map Your Habitat (The 10% Rule)
The SFS requires 10% of your farm to be managed as habitat. You can use Land App to see where you stand:
Step 1: Map existing habitats (e.g., marshy grassland, heath, or broadleaved woodland).
Step 2: Check the "Habitat Cover" column in your table view to see what counts.
Step 3: If you are below 10%, use the map to plan "top-up" areas like new hedgerows (mapped as areas) or temporary habitat creation.
2. Calculate Your Payments
By drawing your farm features using the SFS template, the "Table View" will automatically estimate your Universal Baseline Payment for 2026:
Payment Type | Rate / Details |
Whole Farm Payment | £70/ha for first 70ha; £2/ha for area above 70ha. |
Social Value Payment | £107/ha across all eligible farm area. |
Habitat Maintenance | £69/ha for managing existing or newly created habitats. |
Woodland Maintenance | £62/ha for maintaining existing woodlands (Coniferous, Broadleaved, Mixed). |
Stability Payment | A one-off £1,000 for farms under 100ha joining in 2026. |
3. Simplify mapping to UK Habitat Classification
If you have land mapped under UKHab (e.g. for work with retailers) you can copy your plan to the SFS template. Land App will automatically map your existing habitats to the new SFS categories where possible. This guidance shows how to duplicate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 10% tree cover rule still apply?
No. Following industry feedback, the mandatory 10% woodland requirement was removed. However, you must still have 10% habitat cover. Broadleaved woodland counts towards this habitat total, but coniferous and mixed woodlands generally do not.
Can I still claim BPS?
Yes, but BPS is being phased out. In 2026, you can choose to stay in BPS, but payments will be reduced (tapered) by 40%. Once you join SFS, you cannot switch back to BPS.
How do I map hedgerows to count for habitat cover?
To count towards the 10% habitat threshold, "Good Condition Hedgerows" (at least 3m wide and 2m tall) must be mapped as area features on your Land App plan, rather than just lines.
Does Land App help with the other "Universal Actions"?
Yes. While the SFS template handles the math, you can use our other tools for:
Soil Health (UA1): Use the Soil Survey template to track your 20% annual testing.
Historic Environment (UA11): Use our data layers to identify scheduled monuments on your land.
Hedge Management (UA8): Use the Healthy Hedgerows tool to create management plans.
Why does my "Nature Reporting" score look different from my SFS score?
SFS has very specific government definitions. For example, SFS excludes certain types of woodland from the "habitat" count that other ecological reports might include. Always rely on the SFS Template columns for official scheme planning.
How to create an SFS plan
How to create an SFS plan
Please see this guidance to obtain field parcel data from Rural Payments Wales.
Once your files have been received make sure they are unzipped and select all the files and drag and drop then onto your map and then click on Next
Select the Sustainable Farming Scheme template and click on Next.
Give your plan a name and select Finish.
Your data will be imported and you can now start to assign uses to populate your plan with data. To do that select a feature and the Right Hand Panel will appear. From here click on Assign Use.
From here you can search for the appropriate use or expand a category to select.
To create buffers/margins please see this guidance.
To draw features please see this guidance.
To create printable output please see this guidance.