The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has made the Farming with Nature Scheme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026, with the statutory rule made on 4 June 2026 and due to come into operation on 25 June 2026. According to the instrument, the amendments reshape the 2025 scheme across eligibility, action design, record-keeping and enforcement rather than making a narrow technical correction. The immediate effect is a wider and more detailed rulebook for applicants. The amended scheme raises the amount available under the programme, rewrites key environmental actions in Schedule 1 and adjusts how non-compliance will be handled. For farm businesses, land agents and environmental advisers, the 2026 instrument is therefore a substantive revision of scheme conditions ahead of the main establishment deadlines.
One of the clearest changes sits in regulation 8(2) of the 2025 scheme, where the ceiling rises from £9,500 to £20,000. The amending regulations also remove regulation 9 of the 2025 instrument and replace regulation 10 so that Article 19 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 no longer applies, alongside part of Article 36. DAERA has also revised the compliance framework through amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014. The substituted Article 99 sets the minimum response to a non-compliance as a warning letter and mandatory training, while keeping the upper end of the sanction range severe: up to 100% of payments made or due in the relevant scheme year, plus exclusion from payment from all schemes for the following two scheme years. The same provision states that mandatory training will apply on the first occurrence of a breach of an underpinning requirement.
The definitional changes are also important. In regulation 2(1), the previous reference to a permanent grassland area is replaced with a permanent grassland sensitive area, defined by reference to Article 32A of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and to peat and wetlands requiring protection under the Wild Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. This means several scheme prohibitions are now tied to a more specific environmental category. The same provision inserts a broad definition of machinery, including digging machines, mobile cranes, generators, construction equipment, tractors, quad vehicles and fork-lift trucks. That addition matters because a number of revised and newly inserted actions require land or features to be protected from damage by livestock or machinery, giving the Department a clearer basis for inspection and control.
Schedule 1 has been extensively rewritten for habitat creation actions. For new hedgerows, the substituted paragraph 1 says planting is only eligible where no hedgerow exists or where there is a continuous gap of at least 10 metres. Each new length must itself be at least 10 metres, use at least three native species from Schedule 4 at an average density of six plants per metre, and be protected from grazing livestock or wildlife on all sides. The same paragraph bars new hedgerows on permanent grassland sensitive areas, against an existing hedgerow, on the field side of a 2 metre riparian buffer strip, under the shade of an existing treeline or woodland, and against a stone wall. Evidence of plant numbers and species must be retained, and all work must be completed by 28 February 2027. In practical terms, DAERA has moved this action towards a more prescriptive set of siting, stocking and evidence requirements.
Tree planting rules are similarly tightened. The substituted paragraph 4 requires at least three native tree species from Schedule 5, a minimum plot size of 0.05 hectares, 2.5 metre spacing and a planting density of 1,600 trees per hectare. Trees cannot be planted within 5 metres of a designated watercourse, on flood defence areas, on riparian buffer strips, within hedgerows or on permanent grassland sensitive areas. The regulations also require each newly planted tree to be supported and protected, livestock to be excluded, weed competition to be controlled and access to watercourses for maintenance to remain unobstructed. Work must be completed by 28 February 2027 and the trees must then be retained for at least 20 years from that date. For applicants, that combines a relatively tight establishment standard with a long-term land management commitment.
Riparian buffer strip rules have also been recast. Under the new paragraph 3, an applicant must create the strip alongside a watercourse, or on both sides of an internal watercourse, at either a minimum distance of 2 metres or 7 metres from the watercourse edge. Continuous protective fencing is required along each field boundary and both sides of an internal watercourse, while 7 metre strips must include a gate and two posts every 150 metres, or part of that distance. The legislation states that maintenance access to the watercourse must not be obstructed, all related work must be completed by 28 February 2027, and the strip must be retained for at least 15 years from that date. For holdings already in the scheme, inserted paragraph 13 applies separate ongoing conditions to 7 metre strips created between 19 June 2025 and 31 March 2026, including fertiliser and pesticide restrictions, stock-proof maintenance and post-August cutting rules on the outer 5 metre width.
On arable land, the amended scheme now draws a clearer distinction between temporary management actions and longer-duration habitat options. The substituted paragraph 5 limits winter stubble to arable land growing cereals, oilseed rape, protein crops or linseed, excludes permanent grassland sensitive areas and stubble from maize or under-sown crops, and requires the stubble to be kept until 15 February 2027 without inorganic fertiliser, non-selective herbicide, grazing or cutting. The substituted paragraph 6 sets the rules for multi-species winter cover crops, including a minimum area of 0.1 hectare, at least four species from at least two plant families, no inorganic fertiliser, record retention on the seed mix, and destruction after 15 February 2027 in line with normal husbandry practice. Beyond that, DAERA has inserted a new series of actions for unharvested cereal margins, grass margins, flower-rich grass margins, herbal leys and enhanced herbal leys, supported by new schedules on eligible seed mixes and species. These options introduce specific width bands, minimum areas, seed mix rules, plant protection and fertiliser restrictions, and retention periods ranging from three to five years, with the flower-rich grass margin carrying the earliest establishment deadline of 30 September 2026. The enhanced herbal ley option also bars cutting for forage and requires a more diverse seed mix than the standard herbal ley.
The amending regulations also preserve continuity for work that has already started under the 2025 scheme. Inserted paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 set management obligations for hedgerows, 7 metre riparian buffer strips and tree planting carried out between 19 June 2025 and 31 March 2026 under the earlier rules. Those provisions require ongoing weed control, replacement of failed plants or trees to maintain minimum densities, continued protection from livestock and wildlife, and upkeep of any fencing or gates in stock-proof condition. Taken together, S.R. 2026 No. 105 is not a minor drafting adjustment. The Department’s amendments expand the menu of land management actions, raise the financial ceiling and move the compliance model towards early corrective action backed by stronger sanctions for serious or repeated breaches. Applicants preparing 2026 claims will need to review field maps, seed specifications, planting evidence and long-term land commitments against the amended Schedule 1 before the new rules take effect on 25 June 2026.