Grants will soon be available to farmers in England for investments intended to improve productivity, manage slurry and improve animal health and welfare.
The grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 will go towards the cost of specific items from a prescribed list under the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which is part of the Farming Investment Fund
After a successful first round, the fund will open again later this month for farmers, foresters and growers, including contractors to these sectors.
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2023 is split into two themes:
- Productivity and Slurry (open later this month)
- Animal Health and Welfare (available in March)
Defra has published guidance, including the full list of items available for both grants through the fund.
Productivity and Slurry grant: The items in this list aim improve agricultural sustainability and horticultural and forestry productivity, helping farmers use less inputs, reduce emissions and cut waste.
Animal Health and Welfare grant: The items in this list offer improvements in the health and welfare of livestock, potentially helping farmers improve biosecurity or decrease environmental stress. Each item has a score assigned to it based on our assessment of how well it meets the objectives of the scheme.
If the scheme is oversubscribed, Defra will allocate funding to those items with the highest score first, Defra’s Sarah Evered explained in a blog.
Defra reviewed the list of items available in the first round with farmers, vets, academics and industry groups. As a result, it added:
- 19 items to aid productivity
- 2 items to help with better slurry management
- 66 items to support animal health and welfare
Some of the grants that co-fund investment in equipment, technology and infrastructure to improve animal health and welfare are part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. Defra will publish more information on this very soon.
Standard costs across all items have been also reviewed and grant rates adjusted accordingly, Ms Evered added.
Applying for a grant
“In the first round, those who applied for a grant received approximately 44% of the total cost. The fund proved very popular, and the first round was significantly oversubscribed. We encourage anyone who was unsuccessful in the first round to apply again,” she added.
“There are two separate ‘portals’ to apply for each grant: one for Productivity & Slurry, and one for Animal Health and Welfare. When the window to apply opens, simply visit the online portal and answer questions for the types of grants you are applying for. A clear grant value is assigned to each item.”
“The minimum grant is £1,000 per portal, so the minimum investment for those wishing to apply across both portals remains as it did in the first round.”