Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier offers 5-year agreements for farmers and land managers in England to carry out environmental management. Mid Tier is available to a wider range of applicants than Higher Tier and covers actions for boundary management, arable field margins, buffer strips, and other habitat improvements. It is being gradually replaced by the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) but existing agreements continue.

There are 17 actions available under CS Mid Tier, grouped into the following categories:

| Category | Actions | Example |

|----------|---------|---------|

| Arable Buffer and Margins | 12 | AB1: AB1 |

| Boundaries and Edges | 5 | BE1: BE1 |

Payment rates under CS Mid Tier range from £11.00 to £1072.00, depending on the action. Payments are typically made per hectare per year, though capital grant actions may have different payment structures.

| Code | Action | Payment Rate |

|------|--------|-------------|

| AB1 | | £739 |

| AB10 | | £1,072 |

| AB11 | | £660.00 |

| AB12 | | £732.00 |

| AB14 | | £354 |

| AB16 | | £747 |

| AB3 | | £764 |

| AB4 | | £11.00 |

| AB5 | | £765.00 |

| AB6 | | £589.00 |

| AB7 | | £596 |

| AB8 | | £798.00 |

| BE1 | | £553 |

| BE2 | | £295 |

| BE3 | | £13.00 |

| BE4 | | £264 |

| BE7 | | £146.00 |

Countryside Stewardship agreements are applied for through the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). Applications typically open annually. You need a Rural Payments account and must have eligible land.

This information is provided by Farmwalk based on published government guidance. Always check the latest guidance on GOV.UK.