Maintaining land under organic certification 2026

This document provides a summary of the support offered to maintain land under full organic certification during 2026.

Support will be available for farmers who enter the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and to farmers who continue to claim BPS in 2026. 

Farmers certified fully organic who enter SFS in 2026, under the optional layer, will be able to claim an Organic Payment for 2026. Full guidance will be published within the SFS Single Application Form (SAF) 2026 rules booklet.

For farmers certified fully organic who claim BPS in 2026, full guidance will be published within the BPS SAF 2026 rules booklet where farmers can claim Organic Support 2026.

Please read the rules booklets carefully. If you then consider you qualify for support, you can submit a claim on the SAF 2026.

Organic Support and Organic Payment 2026 provide a payment per hectare for eligible land and is available to existing organic agriculture producers across Wales who maintain full organic certification during 2026.

The payment rates will be based on the land use declared on your SAF 2026. The payment rates available for Organic Support and Organic Payment are as follows: 

Payment rate definitions

Payment rate 1: Horticulture

Land used for horticultural production in 2026.

Horticultural crops must be grown and sold at a commercial scale (evidence will be required). The scale of production should be near to commercial organic production volumes. 

In circumstances where commercial sales cannot be evidenced, for example, because the crop is not ready for harvest, e.g., a newly established vineyard or orchard, we may pay a claim where evidence can be submitted, e.g. invoices for the plants and/or geo-tagged photos of the crop in the ground, to demonstrate your enterprise will operate at a commercial scale.

Horticultural crops must be grown across the whole claimed area.

Livestock fodder crops or cover crops are not eligible. 

Only land where the horticultural crop is grown is eligible, other land within the rotation would be eligible under payment rate 2.

Payment rate 2: Enclosed land with rotational crops/ temporary grassland

Land within a rotation, such as arable land, grassland within an arable rotation and temporary grassland.

Payment rate 3: Enclosed land with permanent crops / grassland

Land not within a crop rotation / permanent crop.

Permanent grassland: GR2 and GR8

Horticulture classed as permanent crops, e.g. orchards.

Payment rate 4: Enclosed land with permanent and temporary grassland with a dairy enterprise

Land can be grassland within a crop rotation, permanent grassland or temporary grassland.

• permanent grassland: GR2 and GR8
• temporary grassland: GR1

This payment rate will only apply to land which supports a dairy enterprise, i.e., dairy animals and dairy youngstock.

Farms with multiple enterprises, for example, a dairy unit and upland sheep will only be paid payment rate 4 for land utilised by the dairy enterprise. Land utilised by the sheep enterprise will be paid on either payment rate 2, 3 or 5, depending on the SAF 2025 submission or confirmed crop codes submitted and evidenced.

The area of eligible land eligible for payment rate 4 will be calculated based on the number of dairy animals on the holding using a standard livestock unit (LSU) calculation. Animals declared on your EoI will be checked against EID Cymru and BCMS records.

The maximum area supported under payment rate 4 will be calculated based on the number of organic dairy animals on the holding using a maximum stocking density of 1.3 LU / Ha.

Payment rate 5 - Land above the upper limit of enclosure and other specified land

Land above the upper limit of enclosure is defined as land above the agricultural enclosure and is characterised by its open nature and has received limited agricultural improvement. (As identified on DataMapWales)

Other specified land includes:

• Common Land which is used for grazing and where you are the sole registered grazier (Sole Grazed Common Land).
• field parcels with 50% or more of the total field size made up of grazed blanket bog, coastal heath, lowland heath, and saltmarsh.
• predominantly extensive upland livestock systems with low stocking densities.

We will identify unenclosed upland and other specified land field parcels eligible for Payment Rate 5. 

Area of land that may be claimed under Organic Support and the Organic Payment 2026 and maximum payment rate

There is no upper limit to the area of land that can be claimed for Organic Support and Organic Payment 2026.

The maximum payment will be tapered according to the following:

In reaching any payment threshold, the highest paying rate will be considered first.

Where permanent ineligible features are introduced or identified on parcels within the agreement, (e.g. woodland or buildings) this area will become ineligible for payment and removed from the claim. 

In order to fulfil the Organic Support and Organic Payment 2026 obligations, all land under contract must be continuously certified with a recognised Organic Control Body (OCB) for the entire duration of the scheme year, commencing 1 January 2026. The most recent OCB Certificate and Land schedules must be submitted by 31^st December 2026.

No payments will be made where an outstanding certificate has not been submitted. 

To be eligible for payment rate 1, claimants with a horticultural enterprise will be required to submit evidence of sales of non-fodder organic horticultural produce from the holding.

To be eligible for payment rate 4, claimants with a dairy enterprise will be required to submit evidence that milk is sold from the holding for the duration of the claim period. For those processing milk on the holding, confirmation and an explanation will be required of how they sell their processed dairy products.

Full guidance will be published within the SAF 2026 rules booklets.

The rules pertaining to Organic Support and the Organic Payment could be subject to change prior to the full guidance and rules being published.