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Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024 Guidance NOW AVAILABLE
Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024 Guidance NOW AVAILABLE
Post date
February 2024
DEFRA have now published their guidance on applying for the 2024 Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and the application window will open shortly.
About the Fund
The Fund provides grants for equipment and technology that supports improvements in:
- Productivity
- Slurry Management
- Animal Health and Welfare
This is a competitive grant, and you can apply for one grant for equipment under one of the three themes above.
Successful applicants will receive a grant of:
- A minimum of £1000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items (increase from last year)
- A minimum of £1000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards slurry items (increase from last year)
- A minimum of £1000 and a maximum of £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items
Depending on the item, a percentage of the cost will be paid by DEFRA. Many of the items will see an increase on this percentage, compared to last year.
What’s New for 2024
- Fund is split into 3 separate grants: productivity, slurry and animal health and welfare equipment
- Increased maximum payments rates for productivity items and slurry items (£50,000)
- Animal Health and Welfare remains the same at £25,000
- Multiple application windows
- New Farming Investment Fund Application Service (to make applying for the grant easier). You will need to register for this.
Productivity items are scored on productivity benefit, environmental benefit, and level of adoption by the industry. There are 85 items to choose from and items are categorised to make it easier for you to navigate what you are looking for.
New items include:
- Tractor powered electric desiccator for weed and plant control
- Combine mounted weed seed reduction system
- Drone for spraying whitewash on to glasshouses
- Closed transfer system for sprayers for containers
- Solar powered water pump
- Mobile tractor powered livestock total feed ration mixer
- Forestry harvesting head with bark stripping
Slurry items are scored on improving slurry management, environmental benefit, and level of adoption by the industry. There are 17 different slurry items to choose from. This year the specification for slurry separators has widened to include screw press, screen press and mobile separators.
Animal Health and Welfare grants are available to commercial farmers. There are 130 animal health and welfare items available to pigs, sheep, dairy, beef and chicken farmers, with 29 new items added for 2024.
These applications are scored on their contribution towards Animal Health and Welfare Pathway Priorities, and you can increase your score by 20% if you show evidence of discussing the application with your vet prior to applying.
To read DEFRA’s guidance on the above grants, click here
The application window is expected to open shortly and two more application windows are expected to open in 2024.
If you would like some advice or assistance with applying for any of the above grants, please feel free to contact us on 01380 724687 and we will be more than happy to help.
