MPs want to know what happened to farmers on 22 September, the day the Sustainable Farming Incentive’s second window of the year opened and closed inside six hours. On The Farming Forum the answer is already written down. Agri Web Media has analysed every contribution to the conversations about it: 926 contributions from 174 members, two polls, and a clear account of who was shut out, why, and what they plan to do next.
By TFF News | 2 October 2026 | Business
The analysis covers 926 visible contributions made by 174 members across 11 conversations on The Farming Forum between 16 September and 2 October 2026. The eight conversations that began in that period had been viewed 33,786 times when counted today, and contributions collected 1,612 reactions at an average of 1.74 each. Application day alone carried 287 contributions. Tone was heavily critical: 373 contributions were negative against 42 positive. These figures describe conversations among the forum’s members and are not a representative survey of the sector.
A committee with questions
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has opened a short survey for farmers and land agents, FarmingUK reports, with responses due by Friday 16 October. It asks whether an application went in, what prevented those who failed, whether businesses must now change, and whether applicants saw the notices issued as the budget drained. Committee chair Alistair Carmichael is quoted saying that “the last thing they needed was a day like last Tuesday” at a time when Defra needed to build trust with farmers.
One contributor had asked for exactly that the morning after the window shut: “Alasdair Carmichael needs to be on this with the Agricultural Parliamentary Select Committee”.
What stopped them
In all, 67 members described what happened to their own application. Of them, 23 submitted in full, 10 got a cut-down version in after dropping fields or actions, 14 did not apply or were not eligible, and 20 had nothing submitted when the window closed. Of those 20, 8 blamed a fault or lockout in the application service, 6 an agent who ran out of time, and 5 being at work, away or with stock.
The service faults were specific. One member made four calls to the Rural Payments Agency: “it just needed someone to do an admin check to clear the issue and let me do my application, but it seems that all the people that could have done the check had clocked off earlier in the afternoon”. Another, facing errors with the budget draining, settled for less: “I am submitting a very basic application just to get it in due to the errors I got with a proper application”. For a third, the stock came first: “Our carefully prepared application was submitted around 15 minutes too blasted late to get in.”
A members’ poll asking who missed out drew 197 voters, each able to pick two options. Of those, 47 said yes, 18 chose the option blaming the system, and 55 were relieved to have got in. It is a show of hands, not a measurement.
Notices reached those at a screen
Defra’s opening post put £233 million into the window. Contributors said the date was known but no opening time had been published, so they kept watch: “Son started checking at 3 this morning to see if it was open.” The budget notices were seen. Members relayed the 25% notice into the conversation at 11:57, 50% at 13:13 and 75% at 14:42, before Defra closed the window at 15:48. That worked for anyone at a desk. For the rest: “A farmer who had a hospital appointment. had stock to sell at the mart, had an RPA eartag inspection, TB testing & many other reasons found the scheme closed when they got home.”
What changes on farm
The committee’s question about business change has direct answers. A hill farmer whose agent did not reach the application in time counted the cost: “we are effectively losing £15k p/a after December.” Habitat created under earlier agreements is first in line: “Yep, 35 acres tussocks grass going to be ploughed up here, madness.” A member with legume fallow coming out of agreement in December set out the options: “Will have a look at them and either spray the legumes out and mow for hay, or top and plough in.” Another put the wildlife argument in one line: “You can’t just turn a tap on or off for wildlife.”
The scale is in Defra’s own update of 23 September: about 12,200 applications went in, and more than 8,800 of those applicants hold an agreement that expires on or before 28 February 2027.
Criticism from those who got in
Before the window opened, 26.3% of contributions were negative. After it closed the figure was 44.4%, and 112 of those 319 negative contributions came from members whose own applications were in. A dairy farmer who had not applied at all wrote: “But how the future of a medium sized arable farm can depend on what time you pressed send is utterly appalling.”
The process had defenders. One successful applicant argued: “TBH it is no more difficult to apply than operate a mobile phone or tractor guidance system.” A member whose query was fixed within the day gave credit: “Praise be where praise is due they sorted it quickly.” Another pointed at the arithmetic: “there’s not enough money left in the pot to divvy it up across everyone and still make it appealing enough for farmers to apply.”
What farmers want instead
A second poll asked how a limited budget should be shared. Of 102 members voting, 59 chose to forget SFI and return to a payment of the Basic Payment Scheme type, far ahead of a lower cap on 19. Among those wanting to keep the scheme, the common ground was time: “Surely it would be better for applications to be allowed in advance.” “I think the easiest way is to have a four week period for applications then have scalebacks if budget exceeded.” One of the most-reacted contributions was blunt: “The issue is, Defra have created farming/ environmental support, to be a race.”
Defra’s update says it is exploring alternatives to first come, first served for 2027 and will look to open that offer as early as possible.
What the trade is left watching
Three things follow for anyone selling to these farms. Agents and software firms are being judged on opening-day capacity, and one agent is already planning for a repeat: “As an agent my take from Tuesday fiasco is that AI with multiple computers with each dedicated to a single SBI will be essential”. Seed houses, agronomists and contractors face margins and fallows returning to the plough on some farms while others wait to see what SFI27 pays. And a members’ poll has favoured a simpler payment over any refinement of the scheme. These are not passing voices: 90.8% of contributors have been forum members for five years or more. Whether the committee’s survey hears from the farmers who were at market or testing cattle on 22 September is the open question.
Read the source conversations and analysis
Read the full conversation on The Farming Forum here. The analysis also draws on: Who missed out?, SFI 27, Sheep farming ( or livestock in general) after subs, SFI tomorrows, What is the point of DEFRA?, Looks like Window 2 might be a bun fight – Farmers Weekly article, Do a little SFI2026, or wait for big renewal in 2027?, What next and when – what happens after you submit an application., SFI ’26, can you reduce rotational actions in years 2 & 3, Public goods.
Download the full evidence report as a PDF: The five-hour window: what farmers said about SFI26 Window 2.
Earlier coverage: Five-hour SFI window leaves farmers locked out, SFI window fallout puts farm agents on the spot and the SFI section summary for 21 to 27 September.
These conversations had been viewed 33,786 times on The Farming Forum when counted on 2 October 2026. Want your brand in the room when farmers talk business? Book advertising with Agri Web Media.