Sustainable Farm Incentive is now live, and available for all land managers in England. Land App has three SFI Templates that are now LIVE, and available to use on ALL subscription tiers (Free, Standard and Professional).
FAQs
Do I have to pay to use the SFI Template?
No, all users of Land App can access the SFI templates, and download their data from the RPA. To learn more, please see this guidance.
Which SFI Template should I use?
Land App hosts two templates:
SFI 22 - for those involved in the Pilots of Sustainable Farm Incentive 22 (SFI 22). This is no longer a live scheme and all agreement holders for SFI 22 have been transitioned to SFI 23.
SFI 23/24 - the current SFI scheme released in 2023. All new applicants should use this scheme.
SFI 26 - Opens in June 2026 for smaller farms (3–50ha) or those without an existing ELM agreement. A second window in September 2026 opens to all remaining eligible farms.
How do I apply for SFI? Who is Eligible? other questions related to the scheme itself?
Please visit the GOV website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sustainable-farming-incentive-guidance
NOTE: the scheme is only available for farmers in England.
Which Rural Payment Agency data is best to import?
For an SFI application, we recommend you download "land cover" and "hedges" from the RPA System. You can do this directly in the app following this guidance.
How is the SFI26 different?
The new offer includes 71 actions, down from 102 in the SFI24 offer. In practice, this means 31 actions have been removed (around one‑third of the previous offer).
Actions that have been removed had low uptake or those that delivered less for food production, the environment, or our wider environmental targets. Applicants are recommended to visit the .GOV website for more information.
What is best practice when editing maps?
We recommend that you:
Label the maps correctly [guidance]
Use the "Lock" function to avoid Collaborators editing when not needed [guidance]
Use folder structure if creating separate layers for Supplements vs Actions [guidance]
Can I use Land App Mobile to collect photo evidence?
Yes, the Land App Mobile is best designed to help collect evidence. You can learn more about the Land App Mobile here, and the type of photo evidence that is required on the .GOV website here.
What is the best practice for drawing hedgerows?
When drawing hedges onto an SFI plan, please see [guidance]
How often / quick is the RPA Importer Updated once the RPA has accepted a change (e.g. via an RLE1 form)?
The extracts are run on Wednesday and Sunday morning, based on data from the RPA reporting database which will contain data up to Tuesday. The updates should then be applied automatically to the RPA Importer on Land App.
Any edit made by the RPA Sunday to Tuesday should be visible on the RPA Importer on Thursday, and edits made Wednesday to Saturday will be visible on the RPA Importer on the following Monday.