Severn Trent's Environmental Protection Scheme

Familiar to many farmers, land agents and estate owners across our region, STEPS is part of our Farming for Water catchment management programme.

STEPS provides practical funding and expert advice to help farmers make improvements that work for their farms and support local water quality.

Every farm is different, and STEPS is designed to help farmers identify the right action for the right farm. Like STEPS 2025, STEPS 2026 is based around 6 core objectives, all of which are designed to support your farm and benefit water quality. 

STEPS 2026 offers:

There are no two ways about it, farming is hard.  Whilst we can’t help with everything, our Agricultural Advisors and STEPS scheme are here to help support farmers’ transition towards sustainable farming practices through in-person support, a fresh pair of eyes and a small funding boost.

STEPS has 6 core objectives, all of which can benefit water quality in the right place:

Within each objective, there are a number of options available, each with its own specification. Explore the options within each objective below. 

For 2026, there is now one dedicated Farmer Innovation option, which helps keep the scheme simple and even more flexible. This gives farmers the opportunity to bring forward a proposal for a project or piece of equipment that falls outside the standard options but could still deliver meaningful benefits for farm performance and water quality.

We strongly encourage you to speak to your Agricultural Advisor before applying, as they can help you understand which options are most relevant for your farm and catchment and support you in building the right application in the right place. Not every option will suit every catchment, so it’s best to discuss your intentions early.

STEPS is focused on ~60 priority catchments across eight counties and we have 20 Agricultural Advisors across our region who can help you and your application.