There has been a spate of announcements on grants and funding today by Defra Secretary of State Emma Reynolds speaking at the NFU conference. The headlines are here.
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) opens on 17 March and the list of kit that is grant funded has been published here.
The SFI opens for small farms up to 50 hectares (123 acres) and farms with no exiting ELM revenue agreements in June and details have been published here. The application window for all other farms will open in September. Only one agreement per business will be permitted with a cap of £100,000 per annum on revenue options.
The capital grant scheme will reopen in July. The budget has been increased from £150m last year to £225m this year but further details have not yet been published.
So far as preparing for applications is concerned, we suggest that any farm businesses looking to apply should consider the options now and be ready to apply as soon as the application windows open. Based on experience last year, the uptake could be very high and funds will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, with the FETF grants also being competitively scored on a points basis.
