Farming Investment Funds – Opportunities for Funding

The Government’s Farming Investment Fund has now opened.  The Farming Investment Fund is part of the prosperity and productivity funding in England’s Agricultural Transition Plan. The grant’s initiative is to support the industry in increasing farm productivity in an environmentally sustainable way.

It is split into two sets of funds:

• Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (grants between £2,000 and £25,000)
• Farming Transformation Fund (grants between £35,000- £500,000)

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund is open until 7th January 2022 and there is a detailed list of the capital items available: gov.uk/guidance/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-round-1-manual/annex-3-eligible-items-specification-and-grant-amount

The criteria for the funding is based on improving the following:

• Productivity
• Animal health and welfare
• Environmental benefits, including biodiversity

Once received applications will be determined on how they are scored against the criteria. This is a highly competitive scheme so it is important that applicants ensure that they meet the requirements prior to applying.

The Farming Transformation Fund provides grants towards larger capital items to help businesses improve productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. The funding is split into three categories:

• Water management
• Improving farm productivity
• Adding value

The Water Management grant is now open for applications and will close on 12 January 2022. – gov.uk/guidance/farming-transformation-fund-water-management-grant-manual

This is only available to arable and horticultural enterprises, or those intending to grow irrigated food crops, ornamentals, or forestry nurseries in England.

For each water management project, the minimum grant you can apply for is £35,000. The maximum grant is £500,000. Grants can cover up to 40% of the eligible costs of a project and the remaining 60% of the cost is to be funded from private sources.

There is a maximum restriction of three claims which can be made over the course of this project.

The Improving Farm Productivity grant opens later this year for applications and The Adding Value grant opens early 2022 for applications.

To find out more about your eligibility for any of these schemes or to seek advice on the schemes please get in touch with our team today.