The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) will host a series of awareness events to inform farmers about the new Farming Sustainability Payment (FSP) scheme to take place over the next four weeks.

The FSP scheme, which is part of DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP), has now replaced its predecessor, the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment.

Applications for the scheme are set to open from March 2 until June 9, 2026, with late penalties applied for applications received between May 16 and June 9.

DAERA stated that FSP "will provide a vital safety net payment for farm businesses and aims to balance support with encouraging farm businesses to manage risks."

Farming Sustainability Payment changes

FSP will also "introduce several key changes to support building more environmentally sustainable, efficient and resilient farm businesses," according to DAERA.

These changes include:

Implementation of the Historic Years Exercise to better target the FSP;
The introduction of conditionalities to deliver wider public benefits such as climate change mitigation and enhancing biodiversity;
Progressive capping of payments above £60,000;
New land eligibility rules to make rush, scrub, bracken and some woodland eligible for payment;
New Farm Sustainability Standards to replace cross compliance.

Awareness events

DAERA has announced that there will be a total of seven SAP awareness events taking place throughout Northern Ireland in the next two months, with a details of FSP and other schemes within SAP set to be discussed.

The first three events will be hosted at College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) campuses:

Monday, January 19 at Greenmount Campus, Co. Antrim;
Wednesday, January 21 at Loughry Campus, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone;
Thursday, January 22 at Enniskillen Campus, Co. Fermanagh.

Following the first three, the next events will be hosted across the province:

Tuesday, January 27 at the Bushtown Hotel, Coleraine, Co. Derry;
Thursday, January 29 at the Silverbirch Hotel, Omagh, Co. Tyrone;
Tuesday, February 3 at the Mourne Country Hotel, Newry, Co. Down;
Thursday, February 5 at the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch, Co. Down.

DAERA explained that at each location, two information sessions will be held - at 2:00p.m and 7:30p.m.

After the formal presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to "speak with CAFRE advisers about how the SAP can benefit your business."

Prebooking is not required and individuals can find out more information on the Business Support area of CAFRE's website.