From today, Wednesday 30 March, you can apply for a share of £20.5 million funding in 2 new competitions in the Farming Innovation Programme in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
We plan to launch the Sustainable Farming Incentive in June. Today we can share the final standards and payment rates, our approach to the applications process and how to prepare, In this post, I’ll provide an overview and share links to further information on GOV.UK. I’ll also explain how farmers have directly shaped the scheme through the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, tests and trials, engagement sessions, co-design activity and discussions.
Recently we ran the first round of our new Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. We received 5,624 eligible applications worth a total overall value of just over £53.5 million. This is triple our initial budget allocation for the fund.
Today, we've blogged about how we're working with farmers and others across the industry to use slurry to our advantage. Farmers told us that finance often stands in the way of improving their slurry and nutrient management systems. Investing in slurry equipment and infrastructure is expensive. Particularly when it comes to integrating new technologies, techniques and building infrastructure. In this post, we'll share how we've been developing slurry grants to better support farmers and what to expect later this year.
At the end of last year, we published a manual on the Improving Farm Productivity grant, which is part of the Farming Transformation Fund. Today we opened the window for applications. We’re also hosting a webinar next week for you to find out more.
You might remember that the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme opened for applications in July. In August, we shared a video made by some of our Protected Landscape colleagues about the sorts of projects that were eligible for funding. In this post, I’d like to share some examples of the things land managers and farmers are doing with their funding.
In this post, we provide an update on the Farming Investment Fund.
One of the things we're doing to support farmers and land managers through the agricultural transition is providing free business support and advice, through a project called the Future Farming Resilience Fund. So far, over 1,200 farming businesses have received support, with scope to help many more. In this post, I’d like to encourage more people to access the free advice that's available.
We've named the 19 organisations who will provide free business support to farmers and land managers. In this post, I'll share their details so farmers can get in touch.
On 1 November, you can come and put your questions to us at Borderway Agri Expo in Carlisle.
Find us at these shows and conferences in 2024.
