Rural Payments Wales: Grants, SFS and How to Apply

If you farm or manage land in Wales, Rural Payments Wales (RPW) is where most of your public funding comes from. RPW is the Welsh Government's service for farm support payments and rural grants, and RPW Online is the website you use to claim and apply. 2026 has been a big year: the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) started, and several capital grant schemes have reopened. This guide explains the main schemes, what was open when we checked and how to apply. Every figure comes from the Welsh Government's own guidance on GOV.WALES, checked on the date shown on this page.

RPW Online: the starting point

Almost every scheme in this guide is applied for through RPW Online. If you are not registered, you need to register first, and you will get a Customer Reference Number (CRN) for your business. Many grant limits are set per CRN. Agents and farming unions can also act for you once they are linked to your account.

If you have problems registering or applying, the Welsh Government's Customer Contact Centre is on 0300 062 5004. Its staff can explain how an application should be completed, but the Welsh Government is clear that what you claim is your own responsibility.

The Sustainable Farming Scheme

The SFS is the Welsh Government's new farm support scheme. In 2026, farmers could choose between the SFS and the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The 2026 scheme year started on 1 January 2026, and 2026 was the first year farmers could apply.

How you joined for 2026

Farmers told the Welsh Government whether they were claiming SFS or BPS on the 2026 Single Application Form (SAF). The SAF opened on 2 March 2026 and the deadline was midnight on 15 May 2026. Applications received up to 9 June 2026 were accepted with financial penalties, and after that they could not be accepted. If your field data needed changing, for example land boundaries, you had to do that through the Manage My Land process before submitting your SAF.

The Universal Layer and payments

The SFS has a Universal Layer that all scheme farmers join, with Universal Actions such as soil testing, benchmarking and habitat management. The Welsh Government says many farmers already do some of these. It has also described Optional and Collaborative layers, with applications for many of those actions opening later.

The Welsh Government's business case sets out two parts of the payment design:

• a whole farm payment of £70 per hectare for the first 70 hectares of eligible land, then £2 per hectare for the rest
• a one-off stability payment of £1,000 in 2026 for farms of up to 100 hectares, to help small and medium family farms through the change

Higher payments are capped. The Welsh Government publishes a ready reckoner so you can estimate your own payment, and the full scheme rules are in its SFS guidance. Because the rules are detailed and change each year, check the current guidance or call the Customer Contact Centre before you plan around the figures.

Capital grants open all year

Two capital schemes had no application windows when we checked: you can apply at any point in the financial year.

Capital Production and Efficiency

Capital Production and Efficiency pays up to 40% of the cost of equipment and machinery that improves efficiency, animal health and welfare, resource use, or health and safety on your farm.

• Minimum grant: £500 per application.
• Maximum grant: £15,000 per CRN per financial year, across all your applications.
• Grants are paid against actual invoiced costs, up to the referenced cost for each item, excluding VAT.
• Applications are scored on their benefits, and the higher-scoring ones are funded first.

For example, if you have already accepted £10,000 for 2026 to 2027, your other applications that year cannot add up to more than £5,000.

Small Infrastructure

Small Infrastructure helps pay for roofing over existing livestock feeding and gathering areas and manure stores, to improve nutrient management and keep clean rainwater out of slurry. It pays a standard cost of £40 for each square metre of roof installed, with a minimum of £3,000 per application and a maximum of £15,000 per applicant per financial year. The guidance published on 17 September 2026 says applications can be made throughout the financial year.

Grants with application windows

Agricultural Diversification and Horticulture

Agricultural Diversification and Horticulture is a capital grant for farmers starting or growing diversification enterprises on the farm, and for existing or new commercial horticulture businesses. Window 3 opened on 21 September 2026 and closes on 27 November 2026, with an indicative budget of £1.5 million.

• Grants are £3,000 to £100,000, at up to 40% of eligible costs excluding VAT.
• To reach the £100,000 maximum, your investment needs to be at least £250,000. To reach the £3,000 minimum, at least £7,500.
• If you did not claim BPS in 2025, you must send evidence that you are a primary producer with at least 3 hectares registered with RPW in Wales, or that you meet the 550 standard labour hours test, by the closing date.
• Applications compete with each other and are scored. Higher-scoring applications are selected in rank order until the money for the window runs out.

Woodland grants

The Welsh Government runs several woodland schemes through RPW Online:

• Woodland Creation Planning Scheme: grants of £1,000 to £5,000 to pay a registered woodland planner to prepare a woodland creation plan for at least 0.25 hectares. It is open all year, and you or your planner submit an expression of interest on RPW Online. Natural Resources Wales offers a pre-application service to check a site is right for planting.
• Woodland Creation Grant: funding for tree planting and fencing on farms and other land. The current window opened in March 2026 and runs to 20 November 2026.

Our tree planting and woodland grants page lists other woodland funding across the UK.

Local grants alongside RPW

Some rural funding in Wales comes from councils, not RPW. For example, Pembrokeshire County Council invited expressions of interest for its Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant between 1 and 30 October 2026. These grants have their own rules and are applied for through the council, not RPW Online.

Tips for applying through RPW

• Keep your RPW Online details current. Your land, bank and contact details all affect payments.
• Read the scheme guidance first. Each scheme has its own eligibility, costs and scoring.
• Get quotes and plan the timing. Most capital grants pay a share of actual invoiced costs, so read what the guidance says about when you can buy items before you place any orders.
• Plan your match funding. At 40% intervention, you need to fund the other 60%. Our guide on how to find match funding can help, and our capital grants guide covers the paperwork that capital projects usually need.

If you are not sure which scheme fits, the Customer Contact Centre can talk you through the options before you start an application.

Finding Welsh grants

We list RPW schemes on the Welsh Government Rural Payments Wales funder page. You can also browse all grants in Wales, agriculture grants or business grants in Wales.