Rural Payments Agency (RPA): Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier Extension Offer Letters
For Members advising farmers on agri-environment schemes in England, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has issued Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid Tier extension offer letters. These letters enable farmers to extend their existing Mid Tier agreements, due to end on 31 December 2025, for an additional year. The deadline to accept the offer is 27 November 2025.
At present, it remains unclear whether any details of the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer, such as available actions or payment rates, will be released before the acceptance deadline. It is also uncertain whether opting for the extension will affect a farmer’s ability to enter land into the new scheme. However, based on previous years, it is unlikely that farmers would be eligible to receive two payments for delivering similar actions on the same land parcel.
Farmers who have a CS Mid Tier agreement expiring in December 2025 and have not received communication from the RPA by 6 November are advised to contact the RPA helpline to clarify their situation.
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