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 of anticipated demand for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2 before applications opened on 22 September 2026; and whether that estimate took into consideration that the available budget would be allocated on the first day.

Defra expected strong initial demand for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2 and made clear before the window opened that its duration would depend on the rate of applications. In anticipation of high demand, 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. The Government kept the window open until sufficient applications had been received to allocate the available funding.