Farming Equipment & Technology Grant Announcement

Published: 15/01/2023 By Phoebe Dean

Rural grants announced yesterday offer farmers, foresters, growers and contractors the chance to secure funding towards items to improve productivity and management, as Graduate Surveyor Phoebe Dean explains.

Defra has announced a new round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF), part of the Farming Investment Fund. Grants are available for two themes, Productivity and Slurry (which opens later in February) and Animal Health and Welfare (opening in March).

The grants are available to farmers, foresters, and growers in England, including contractors, with funding of between £1000 and £25,000 per ‘theme’ available. The level of funding is calculated at a specified amount towards the cost of a particular item, which must be brand new.

The first round of the FETF was significantly oversubscribed, and DEFRA guidance encourages both those who were successful and those unsuccessful in the first round to apply again.
There have also been many new items added to the fund for this round including but not limited to:

Productivity and Slurry

• Dribble Bar minimum working width 6m – Grant available £4,200
• Direct drill 6m – Grant available £18,720
• Tractor mounted stubble rake 6m – Grant available £5,800
• Robotic silage pusher – Grant available £5,800Soil health monitor package – Grant available £331

Animal Health and Welfare

• Mobile cattle handling system – Grant available £5,570
• Mobile calf milk pasteuriser and dispenser – Grant available £3,246
• Mobile sheep handling system – Grant available £3,568
• Electric fencing package – Grant available £641
• High volume low speed ventilation fans – Grant available - £1950

Graduate Surveyor Phoebe Dean encourages those eligible to apply ‘The grants available could help towards the cost of items that you may already have been considering purchasing, and thus making the cost of improving your productivity and management more affordable’.

As mentioned above, the window for submitting applications opens in February/March.  The process is expected to be competitive, so we suggest submitting applications promptly. If your application is successful, items should be purchased/installed prior to the fund deadlines which are expected to be October 2023 for Productivity and Slurry items and January 2024 for Animal Health and Welfare items. The specific deadline date will be confirmed in the funding agreement.

Symonds & Sampson can provide further specific advice and guidance in relation to ELMS and the schemes offered within it and assist with undertaking applications. Please contact Phoebe in our Sherborne office on 01935 814488, or a member of our Rural Grants Team in your nearest office.