As outlined in the Chancellor’s announcement, we have secured a budget of £2.4 billion for the next financial year. This means we can maintain the momentum of our environmental land management (ELM) schemes, which will rise to the highest funding levels ever by 2025/26.
By reducing the levels of endemic disease in livestock, we can increase productivity, support businesses and unlock wider benefits too — from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slowing antimicrobial resistance. The very nature of endemic disease means it is an ongoing concern. Managing it requires the sustained effort of livestock keepers, the support of vets and money. In recognition of this, we are offering additional financial support.
We recently held a webinar for livestock and grassland farmers in England. In the webinar, we gave an overview of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer and how the scheme supports both productivity and the environment. We also covered the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway and the grants on offer through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. In this post, we summarise what we covered and include the recording and links for you to learn more.
In this episode of the Farming podcast, our lead for healthier animals, Martin Jenkins, talks to dairy farmer Karen Halton. They are joined by infectious disease expert and vet James Russell. They explain what to expect from the SFI annual health and welfare review,
Over the past few weeks, we've summarised the updates to our environmental land management offer by farm type. These posts follow last month's Agricultural Transition Plan update. In this post, we’ll focus on the updated offer for livestock and grassland farmers.
In this episode of the Defra Farming podcast, regional engagement lead Michael Sturla talks to Robin and Christopher Milton. The father and son team farm beef and sheep on the Exmoor uplands and have a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement. They describe their experience applying for an agreement, the actions they're undertaking and the benefits.
Mother and son team, Tracey and Will, run a dairy and beef farm in Langley Mill, Derbyshire. In this film, they talk through the SFI actions they’ve included in their agreement, including herbal leys in rotational pasture, hedgerows, soils, legume mix with grasses and pest management. They describe how SFI helps them to balance the books, take care of the environment and build the resilience of their farm business.
Round 2 of the Slurry Infrastructure grant will close for applications on Wednesday 17 January. We’re supporting many more projects than we did last year, so if you need slurry storage, now is the time to apply for a grant. In this post, I’ll give you a recap of the grant and the information you need to get started.
In a few weeks’ time, you will once again have the opportunity to apply for an Improving Farm Productivity grant. The grant pays for capital items including robotic, automatic and solar equipment that improve farm and horticulture productivity. To help you prepare, we’ve published guidance on GOV.UK. In this post, I’ll share an overview of the grant, the changes we've made following Round 1 and link to the guidance.
On Monday 20 November, we held a webinar for livestock and grassland farmers. If you missed the webinar, don't worry. In this post, I'll share a link to the recording. I'll also include the top questions farmers put to us and a summary of the offer for those farm types.
