Grant Advice

The Farming Profitability Review led by Minette Batters, examined the financial, structural, environmental, and policy-related challenges for UK agriculture, outlining 57 actionable recommendations in response.  Commissioned by DEFRA in April 2025, the review highlighted increasing economic pressures, rising production costs, volatile markets and ongoing policy uncertainty that has left many farmers questioning the future viability […]

Welcome to the Ceres Rural Farming Update, a publication that provides independent insights on agricultural issues, from policy and grant funding, to administrative updates and key market information. Read the update here. For a printer-friendly version, click here. Please consider the environment before printing this publication. A ‘PLUS‘ version of this publication is now available to […]

LENs is introducing a farmer training programme for the East of England and Yorkshire. The development is part of its commitment to provide more support for farmers participating LENs. Following a competitive tender, LENs appointed Ceres Rural, an experience-led farming consultancy, to develop and deliver training and support materials, designed to equip farmers with a […]

Sustainable Farming Incentive Defra has recently announced the impending release of new application windows for the Sustainable Farming Incentive, (SFI) to offer grant funding to horticultural and agricultural businesses for the deliverance of environmental benefit. The preliminary round opens in June (for businesses of under 50ha), before expanding to larger businesses in September. This presents […]

Ceres Rural is advising farmers and land managers to take early note of emerging changes to the 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), following announcements made at the NFU Conference, which signal a marked shift in both the structure and financial framework of the scheme. Current indications suggest that the 2025 SFI offer will be limited […]

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, delivered an important update at the Oxford Farming Conference, outlining new measures and funding opportunities designed to support farmers and strengthen the agricultural sector. This comes following the recent announcement of increasing the inheritance tax relief for family farms, with the Agricultural and Business Property […]

The 2025 Budget brings a range of changes – some positive, some challenging – across the rural landscape. The full transferability of the £1 million APR and BPR bands between spouses is welcome and provides more flexibility for succession planning. However, increased minimum wages will put additional strain on farm businesses, especially those relying on seasonal or […]

The latest announcement from Defra is exciting: a new national forest will be in the Oxford-Cambridge (Ox-Cam) corridor. This Ox-Cam national forest is the second to be announced, following the Western Forest announced earlier this year. A further location is due to be decided in early 2026, reportedly either in the Midlands or the North […]

Welcome to the Ceres Rural Farming Update, a publication that provides independent insights on agricultural issues, from policy and grant funding, to administrative updates and key market information. Read the update here. For a printer-friendly version, click here. Please consider the environment before printing this publication. A ‘PLUS‘ version of this publication is now available to […]