The Farming Investment Fund has been created to promote investment in England’s farming and forestry businesses. It offers grants for purchasing new equipment and infrastructure to help to improve efficiency. The Fund aims to improve and increase profitability whilst developing and enhancing environmental goods.
This is part of the Government’s Agricultural Transition Plan, as the subsidy payments are phased out. The Government’s desire is to reduce farmers’ reliance on direct payments and increase productivity from farm holdings in an environmentally and sustainable way. The Farming Investment Fund is broken down into the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF).
Farming Transformation Fund
This fund provides grants towards large capital items to help businesses improve productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability.
They are:
- Water Management
- Improving Farm Productivity
- Adding Value
Water Management Grant:
- The Farming Transformation Fund Water Management grant is to make more efficient use of water forirrigation and to secure water supplies for crops.
- The grant can pay up to 40% of the costs for:
- constructing water storage reservoirs
- abstraction points, pumps and pipework to fill a reservoir
- irrigation pumps, controls, underground water distribution systems
- water meters
- best-practice application equipment such as boom or trickle irrigators
- software and sensors to optimise water application
- The minimum grant you can claim is £35,000 (40% of £87,500). The maximum grant is £500,000.
Closing date for applications 30/06/2022
Eligibility and Application Process
You can apply if you:
- are in England
- grow crops for the food industry
- are a forestry nursery
- are a nursery growing ornamentals
- own/have a lease for at least 5 years for land project will be on
- To find out if your project is eligible for a grant, please review the grant eligibility checker. If successful you will be invited to make a full application. FTF want to fund projects that improve productivity, the environment and water sustainability.
For more information about this grant or support in writing a bid application, please contact a member of the Catax team.