DEFRA update on Technology, Innovation and Capital Grants
Wed 26 Feb 2025
Yesterday, Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, announced new opportunities to apply for productivity grants in 2025, along with an update on Capital Grants.
Grants will be offered through the following schemes:
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)
FETF offers grants for equipment, technology and small infrastructure to boost productivity, improve slurry management and enhance animal health and welfare.
This spring, DEFRA will launch one round of FETF. Grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 will be available.
In total, £30 million will be available for productivity and slurry and £16.7 million will be available for animal health and welfare.
The Farming Innovation Programme (FIP)
Through FIP, funding is available to farmers, growers and foresters who want to develop and use new, innovative methods and technologies.
Key themes for grants accessed through competitions include:
· Up to £12.5 million available to fund research to deliver the practical benefits of precision breeding technology to farmers.
· Up to £12.5 million across projects to fund research focusing on technologies and practices to help transition the sector towards Net Zero.
· Further Industry-led competitions with up to £17.6 million across projects. These will range from early-stage feasibility to those at a later stage in the R&D pipeline towards commercialisation.
Case studies for previously funded farming innovation projects can be found here.
Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund (ADOPT)
ADOPT provides collaborative farmer-led, innovation grants, for farmers and farm businesses to trial new technology and methods on their farm.
These practical research projects will help to prove innovative ways of boosting farm productivity, food security and nature’s recovery across England.
It will open for applications in spring 2025 and grants will be available to fund projects of between £50,000 to £100,000 in size.
Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme
FIPL funding has been secured and will be extended until March 2026. This programme offers grants for projects in National Parks and National Landscapes such as the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape (formerly the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB).
Animal Health and Welfare Review
This offers farmers in England a free annual vet visit to support farmers and provide them with tailored advice to improve health, welfare and productivity of animals. Later this year the funding will be expanded to cover multiple flocks of the same species.
Update on Capital Grants
Following the unexpected closure of the Capital Grants scheme in November 2024, DEFRA have now announced that they have secured sufficient funding for Capital Grants for 2025/26.
This means they can now process the 4,040 Capital Grants applications that were on hold and the RPA will be in contact with these farmers once they have processed their application.
If an application has not yet been submitted, the scheme should be reopening later this year, with a rolling application window.
If you are not aware, Capital Grants schemes help farmers and businesses by providing funding to cover part or all of the costs of activities such as tree planting, habitat restoration, or buying equipment to improve air or water quality.
The main alteration announced is that there will be spending caps in place for any new applications submitted later this year. However, we do not know what this cap will be at the moment.
If you feel like these may be of interest to you later this year, then do get in touch with Abigail Saunders who can help formulate an application for you. You can contact Abi Saunders on 07930 592030, or by email [email protected].