Agri-environment agreement holders can now apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) via the Rural Payments Service instead of through the RPA.
Following testing, the service is now open for online SFI applications for Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreement holders.
Prior to this, CS and ES agreement holders were unable to use the Rural Payments Service, and were dependent on contacting the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
The SFI is the first of three new environmental schemes being introduced under post-Brexit. The other schemes are Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery.
The SFI aims to help farmers manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable.
The online system is still being tested for common land, according to a new update by the NFU, and will open in the coming months.
The union added that farmers wanting to apply on common land now should contact the RPA.
Anyone considering applying to the SFI should read Defra's guidance by visiting the Gov.uk website.
