The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) is set to re-open in the spring, as part of a £110 million investment in equipment and technology grants.
The future of the FETF scheme was in doubt after Defra paused its grant schemes, pending a review, amid budgetary constraints, towards the end of last year.
Defra ministers provided updates on various environmental and grants schemes at the NFU conference.
FETF provides grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 for various items of equipment and technology to support pig health and welfare, slurry management and productivity.
Under the next round, which will be launched in the spring, a total of £46.7m will be available, including £30m for productivity and slurry and £16.7m for animal health and welfare grants.
Over the past three rounds of FETF, £107m has been spent and previous rounds have proved useful for pig farmers, including, for example, fixed handling systems, electronic sow feeders, automatic curtain systems and portable loading ramps.
The £110m spending will also cover New Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) grants worth more than £42.5m, including competitions focussed on unlocking the benefits of precision breeding and supporting the net zero transition.
The third part will be a new ADOPT fund providing £20m for farmer-led trials that bridge the gap between new technologies and their real-world application, ‘giving farmers the confidence investments in tech will deliver the returns they need’.
Pathway boost
Defra also announced that farmers will be able to apply for veterinary visits to cover every eligible species, including pigs, they have from this week, under the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. Currently, farms with multiple species are only able to apply for one funded visit.
From summer they will also be able to apply for a visit for every eligible herd or flock of the same species.
HLS increase
Defra secretary Steve Reed also also announced an uplift to Higher Level Stewardship payment rates, applying across a range of HLS options, worth £30m in extra payments in total.
He said this would bolster support for farmers ‘delivering high-quality environmental outcomes to maintain species-rich grasslands, managing our most important habitats and delivering a range of high-quality environmental outcomes’.
The standalone ELM Capital Grants scheme will re-open in the summer, worth around £45 million in 2025/26.
The Rural Payments Agency is now processing the remaining 4,000 applications held when the scheme paused. These agreements will be worth £120 million over their lifetime.
Food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner said: “Investing in innovation and technology will help farmers produce food more sustainably and profitably, and get the equipment they need to help their bottom line.”
Country Land and Business Association (CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “We welcome another window of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) this spring, and hope the reopening of the capital grants scheme later this year will help to restore some confidence in the system after last year’s frustrations.”