Enhanced Greening quick guide

Do you have more than 15 hectares of arable land? If so, you will need to manage Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) in 2026.

What is Enhanced Greening?

In 2026, more farmers and crofters will be required to manage Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs).

This will mean that more land in Scotland is farmed in a way that protects nature and is good for the climate.

What is an Ecological Focus Area (EFA)?

An EFA is an area of arable land managed for the benefit of the climate and the environment.

What you have to do

To manage EFA, you need to dedicate a small portion of your land to practices that are good for the environment.

There are lots of ways you can do this. Many of them are things that you may already be doing – like green cover or hedges.

You can use one or a mix of several. It’s up to you to choose the options that are most suitable for your farm or croft.

How to meet your EFA requirement

There are eleven Ecological Focus Area options that can be used on their own or in combination to meet the EFA requirement. Some of these are new for 2026.

EFA options	Option requirements
Fallow Land	To use this option, you must leave arable land left uncultivated. To qualify, you must have no production between 15 January and 15 July 2026.
Margins	To use this option, you must have or create margins around arable lands. These margins must be between 3 and 20 metres wide. Margins can include conservation headlands, beetle banks, and watercourse margins in arable fields.
Catch Crops	To use this option, you must plant cereal, oilseed rape, maize, or beans. They must be under-sown with a species mix that will enhance soil and biodiversity.
Green Cover	These are temporary autumn crops that improve biodiversity, soil structure, and fertility. These can help prevent erosion and nutrient loss. You must use a mix of two or more crop species. You can graze this land once it is established.
Nitrogen-Fixing Crops	These are crops that enrich the soil with nitrogen compounds. You must use at least two crop types, and these must be surrounded by an EFA margin.
Hedges	To use this option, you must have hedges that are at least 20 metres. They should be on or next to arable land with gaps no wider than 5 metres.
Agro-Forestry	To use this option, you must plant trees as part of a Scottish Forestry agreement. This agreement must be compliant with FGS082-01, FGS082-02 or the small/farm woodland scheme (FGS081-009).
Herb and Legume-Rich Pastures	To use this option, you must seed or overseed grass swards using diverse species grass mix.
Unharvested Crop	To use this option, you must keep an unharvested crop until the end of 2026. This must be between 6 and 20 metre wide. It should be a single crop type, sown around arable fields.
Low Input Grassland	This should be permanent grassland (PGRS) that may be grazed or cut for fodder (3 metre margin uncut). You are not permitted to use inorganic fertilisers.
Low Density Trees	This is areas planted with native or fruit trees. There must be between 20–50 trees per hectare.

When does this take effect?

The changes will take effect from 1 January 2026. However, not all EFA options require active management from the start of the year.

Check the scheme guidance now to make sure you have time to prepare.

Changes to exemptions

These changes are being made by removing several exemptions. Until now, many farmers and crofters have been exempt from managing EFA. These exemptions are being removed.

More than 75% of my arable land is temporary grass, herbaceous forage, fallow or leguminous crops – am I exempt?

No. This exemption no longer applies. You will need to manage EFA in 2026.

More than 75% of my total is temporary grass or permanent grass or herbaceous forage – am I exempt?

No. This exemption no longer applies. You will need to manage EFA in 2026.

I only have temporary grassland which is defined as arable under the scheme guidance. I was previously exempt. Will I have to manage arable EFA?

Yes. The exemption has been removed. If you have more than 15 hectares of arable land, including temporary grassland, you must manage 5% of your arable land as EFA.