Farming Equipment and Technology Grant – Round 2 announced!

Defra has announced the second round of the popular Farming Equipment and Technology Grant, offering grants of up to £25,000 towards items that will improve agricultural sustainability, horticultural and forestry productivity, and improve animal welfare.

The grant has been expanded for the second round with an additional 87 eligible items added and a change to the minimum grant amount, which is reduced to £1,000, meaning this round is accessible to even more businesses. The maximum grant remains at £25,000.

This round has been split into two themes, with the application window for each opening either later this month or in March:

Productivity and Slurry Grant – Applications open in late February

Items available under the Productivity and Slurry theme include horticulture, forestry, slurry management, arable, livestock, resource management and general items. Examples include:

  • Mobile vertical frost fans for vineyards and horticulture
  • Tractor-mounted flail mulcher for orchards and vineyards
  • Smaller self-propelled forwarders for forestry
  • Forestry/timber trailers small
  • Slurry separators
  • Nurse tanks for slurry
  • Slurry dribble bar and injection system applicators
  • Direct and other drilling equipment for crop establishment
  • Grain equipment
  • Precision equipment for input application
  • Various livestock equipment, including heat time detection, calving detectors, etc
  • Rainwater collection tanks and associated systems
  • Cameras for farmyard monitoring
Grant-funded direct drill

Grant-funded direct drill

This grant proved popular in the first round with several of Hobbs Parker's clients benefiting from this funding.

We assisted with successful grants for direct drills, mobile sheep handling systems, EID readers and heat detection systems to name a few.

Animal Health and Welfare Grant – Applications open in March

Items available under the Animal Health and Welfare theme include:

  • Cattle sheep and pig handling systems – both mobile and fixed
  • Automatic cattle, sheep and pig weighing and shedding gates
  • EID readers for cattle and sheep
  • Perimeter fencing for cattle
  • Calf equipment, including automatic feeding, restraint crates, coats, hutches/pods,
  • Poultry equipment, including automatic scales, feed bin weighing equipment, nibble drinker systems etc
  • Livestock monitoring cameras
  • Auto drench and vaccinations guns
  • Electric fencing equipment

This is not a complete list, but it provides a good indication of the types of items which are eligible under this grant.

The grant will pay a fixed contribution towards the cost of the item listed. If successful, applicants must ensure that they purchase the item as per the specification, outright in full and then make a grant claim before the deadline, which will be announced when the application window opens.

Once the application window opens, there usually is around 6 to 8 weeks to make applications before the deadline.

If you think you might be able to benefit from this grant, I recommend you give Thomas Hamplett a call on 01233 506201. He'll talk you through the process and can help you submit your application.

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