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From application to agreement: making the process to join SFI simple

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Sustainable Farming Incentive
Interior shot of Mac screen in a kitchen, with SFI apply page displayed

When you apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), we want your experience to be smooth and we want to offer you as much flexibility as possible. In this post, we’ll set out what you can do and what we’re doing to make the process of applying as straightforward as it can be, so you can join the 14,000 other farmers, growers and land managers who've already applied.

Funding applications now open for high-growth agri-tech businesses

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments for research and innovation
Woman with laptop and tractor in farm field

We are pleased to say that applications are now open for the £5 million Farming Innovation Investor Partnership competition with Innovate UK. The application window will remain open for 6 weeks until 30 August and there is a briefing session for potential applicants on 25 July. In this post we will give you a recap on the competition and how to apply for funding.

Improving and extending our offer for upland farmers

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Future Farming and Countryside Programme

It is our mission to create an offer that is workable for every farmer and farm type in England. Upland farmers are a crucial part of our rural communities, economies and landscapes – they are central to the production of high-quality food and other goods. In this post, we set out the offer for upland farmers and share the work we are doing to make sure that it is accessible, broad and rewarding, and that it helps us to achieve our ambitions for food production, productivity and the environment.

New round of Farming Equipment and Technology Fund grants opening soon  

English rural landscape in with grazing Holstein Friesian cattle

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund  is part of the Farming Investment Fund. It offers grants for specific items of equipment to increase productivity, boost environmental sustainability and improve animal health and welfare. Today, we published the full list of items available through the fund. In this post, I’ll explain what is available, when you can apply for a grant and provide links for you to find out more. 

Apply for share of £16.5 million innovation funding

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments for research and innovation

From the end of this month, £16.5 million will be available through 2 new research and development competitions. There is no set theme for these competitions as we don’t want to create barriers to innovation. However, all projects must focus on improving the productivity, environmental sustainability and resilience of England’s agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors.  In this post, I'll give an overview and an update on the previous rounds.

How we’re making sure all farm businesses can fairly access money released from Basic Payments

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Countryside Stewardship, Transition support

The government has committed to maintain the farming budget for England at £2.4 billion per year throughout this parliament. We will be gradually reducing spending on Basic Payments each year over the next 6 years. Instead, we will make the money available to farmers through one-off grants for capital investment in equipment and technology, and ongoing payments for environmental actions and related advice and support. Farmers will be able to get paid for a combination of actions that they choose, to suit their farm business, food production and the environment.

A fresh start for new entrants

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments for entering farming

It's hard to get started in farming, or any related land-based business. Newcomers to the industry (usually known as "new entrants") face all sorts of barriers. It's challenging for them to find land, secure finance and progress their businesses. When we published the Agricultural Transition Plan towards the end of 2020, we said that we would establish a support scheme for new entrants, and make the whole process easier. This blog post is an update on what we've learned so far by working collaboratively with people across the sector and the next steps.

Further funding for farmers, foresters and growers to innovate

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments for research and innovation
Gap in a hedgerow with sheep in background. Hartlip, Kent.

The Farming Innovation Programme provides research and development funding to farmers and growers who want to develop and use new, innovative methods and technologies.  The aim of the fund is to support farmers to become more productive, environmentally sustainable and resilient to the global food security challenges of the future. You might remember that alongside UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) we launched the first rounds of funding in October, and 2 more in March. In this post, I’ll share information about our latest funding opportunity: the Research Starter Projects Competition.