Jan 2022 • 5 min read

The Farming Investment Fund was launched on 16th November and, within that, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) is now open for applications until 7th January 2022.

The two funds for England that comprise the Farming Investment Fund are intended to support farming’s self reliance and productivity (that is, its efficiency) with improved animal health and welfare and a reduced environmental impact. Offering:
– the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, with smaller grants for specific items
– the Farming Transformation Fund, with more substantial grants initially offered for water management investments such as reservoirs and irrigation but with other themes to follow

The Fund sits alongside the unfolding Innovation Research and Development scheme with its focus on innovation for the future. Both parts of the Farming Investment Fund are open to wider range of applicants, including agricultural contractors, those farmers who have not claimed Basic Payment and foresters. All applicants will need to have registered with the RPA – simply having a flock number will not suffice.
It is understood that applicants could form a consortium to make an application but DEFRA will want one entity to be the contract holder, whether a lead individual or a legal entity such as a company.

Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)

This provides specific financial support for buying items from a list of new equipment and technology. It will not support buying second hand items.

It opens for applications on 16th November 2021 and closes on 7th January. Claims are to be made by 30th September 2022.

Following on from the Countryside Productivity Grants scheme, the scheme supports a wider list of some 120 items, with 38 new items, including those for precision and analysis, resource management and livestock work, horticulture and forestry. It has a lower minimum grant of £2,000 and a higher maximum grant of £25,000, allowing higher value items and larger versions (including a larger drill) to be supported.

The grants are perhaps better seen as lump sum grants for each item and this is how they will be shown on on-line portal for scheme. They have been set at 40 per cent (sometimes 50 per cent) of assessed standard costs. While actual costs might then be different, that will not affect the size of the grant.

There will now be tolerance for applicants to be able to remove items from applications, as where an item cannot be supplied, a wrong item has been selected or items had to be bought as a package. This is to be done on a case-by-case basis provided the remaining items still warrant a grant above the £2,000 minimum.

Farming Transformation Fund

This fund offers larger grants of between £35,000 and £500,000 for investment making greater changes that might transform a farm’s performance.

It is being offered in successive waves for different themes. The first theme concerns water management, with the potential to support reservoirs and irrigation among other measures. That is likely to be followed by later phases focused on farm productivity and then on adding value to agricultural produce.

Application is to be with a two stage process:
– an initial on-line check of the proposal’s “eligibility and desirability”
– where a potential application is found to be “eligible and desirable”, the applicant will be invited to make a full application.

For the Water Management phase of this Fund, aimed at arable and horticultural business growing or intending to grow irrigated food crops, ornamental or forestry nurseries:

– it opens on 16th November 2021 with access to the on-line check of “eligibility and
desirability”
– that on-line checker closes on 12th January 2022
– full applications are then to be made by 30th June 2022
– any necessary planning permissions and abstraction licences are to be in place by 31st
December 2022.

The full list of items eligible for FETF including their specification and amount payable under the grant is listed on the Gov.uk website.