Sources of funding
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2024
Summary information
The 1st round of applications for this competitive grant fund is open. The fund is divided into three sections.
Applications for the Improving Productivity and Managing Slurry sections are open until midday 17th April 2024.
Application for the Animal Welfare section is now open until midday 1st May 2024.
Further application windows are planned through 2024 though, so there will be other chances to apply.
This document is provided to act as a shorter read, but with enough information to assist with initial decisions about whether to apply or not. Full details are provided on the webpages noted in this document and will need to be consulted as part of any actual application.
There is a summary table provided at the end, which currently focuses on some of the equipment that is eligible for grant payment in the Improving Productivity grant section (focusing on equipment for arable and horticultural field crops).
Grant schemes outline and eligibility requirements
Full details of eligibility criteria and application process can be found at:
But some extracts of the information can be found below.
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2024 includes 3 grants to help you buy items to:
You can apply for more than one grant, for items that suit your business.
FETF 2024 is competitive. You may not receive any, or all of the funding you apply for.
Successful applicants will receive:
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards slurry items
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items
Check you’re eligible
You can apply for a grant if your business is based and registered in England and you’re a:
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farmer
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horticulturalist
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forestry owner
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contractor carrying out services to farmers, horticulturalists or forestry owners
You may be eligible to apply if you’ve received money from previous FETF grants or the Countryside Productivity Scheme (CPSG).
The FETF Animal Health and Welfare grant is only available if you farm any of the following:
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beef cattle
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dairy cattle
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sheep
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pigs
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laying chickens (including rearing and breeding farms)
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broiler chickens (including rearing and breeding farms)
Other types of livestock and poultry, including goats, ducks, turkeys, geese and gamebirds, are not eligible for funding.
Lump Sum Exit Scheme applicants
You’re not eligible for FETF if you choose to leave farming through the Lump Sum Exit Scheme.
If you’re a farmer who has been paid a lump sum but are continuing as a contractor, you can apply for FETF.
How much money you’ll receive
You’re not eligible for FETF if you choose to leave farming through the Lump Sum Exit Scheme.
If you’re a farmer who has been paid a lump sum but are continuing as a contractor, you can apply for FETF.
The RPA has calculated an expected average cost for each item, based on costs from a cross-section of suppliers.
The RPA will pay you a grant amount of 50% or 60% towards either:
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the average cost of the item – if an item costs you the same or more than the expected average cost in the item lists
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the actual cost you pay for the item – if an item costs you less than the expected average cost in the item lists
You can check an item’s expected average cost and grant amount in the item and specification lists.
If your application is successful, you’ll receive a grant of:
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards slurry items
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a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items
The grant contribution does not cover the total cost of each item. It’s your responsibility to fund the remaining cost.
Application windows
Two more application windows for productivity, slurry and animal health and welfare items are expected to open in 2024. The total budget for each grant is split evenly across the application windows.
The average costs and grant amounts for the items are expected to be the same in each application window.
If your application falls below the scoring threshold and is unsuccessful, the RPA will reject it. You will be able to apply again in a future application window.
You can only accept one grant funding agreement (GFA) for each grant. When you have accepted a GFA you cannot apply again for the same grant in 2024. For example, if you accept a GFA for a productivity grant in the first window, you cannot apply for a productivity grant in the second or third window.
How to apply
Follow these steps to apply for FETF:
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Check the specification of the items you want to apply for in the 2024 items and specifications lists – specifications may have changed from previous FETF item lists.
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Check the availability of the items you want to apply for with your supplier.
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Do not order or buy anything at this stage, unless you are paying with a refundable deposit. The RPA will reject your claim if you do not meet these conditions.
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Register with the Rural Payments service.
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Check your business details in the Rural Payments service are correct or update your email address or contact details. Your personal record on Rural Payments must have a permission level of either ‘make legal changes’ or ‘full permissions’ for the business you are applying for.
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Read the FETF 2024 terms and conditions.
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Register and login to the Farming Investment Fund service to submit your application by the application deadlines (this is separate to the Rural Payments service and requires you to complete a new registration). If you want to apply for more than one grant, you’ll need to submit separate applications. The service is an online system where you’ll need to complete questions about yourself and your business. Your details must match those in the Rural Payments service. Your application should take around 20 minutes to complete.
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You’ll receive an acknowledgement email within 24 hours of applying – you may need to check your junk folder for emails about your application.
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Your application will be checked for eligibility and scored by the RPA.
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If your application is unsuccessful, the RPA will write to you to tell you why.
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If your application is successful, the RPA will send you a GFA. GFAs for each grant will be sent separately.
Refundable deposits
To help reduce possible supply issues, a supplier or manufacturer may agree to reserve your item if you pay a refundable deposit. The deposit must be for no more than 50% of the item cost.
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You must not put down a refundable deposit before the 20 February 2024.
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Invoices must be marked by your supplier to show you used a refundable deposit to buy the item.
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The RPA will reject your claim if you do not meet these conditions.
Animal Health and Welfare grant: evidence of vet advice
If you’re applying for an Animal Health and Welfare grant, you can increase your application score by providing evidence that you’ve discussed your application with a vet.
You can get vet advice by telephone, email, or as part of a vet visit. You may be eligible to apply for a fully funded vet visit as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) annual health and welfare review.
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You must receive advice on your application after 1 January 2024 and before 1 January 2025 for it to be eligible for the increase.
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You’ll need to provide your vet’s details, the date of the discussion and permission for us to contact your vet when you apply.
Improving Productivity fund section – more detailed information
For the Improving Productivity section, details of what equipment can be purchased is all listed at
Grants are for 50-60% of the eligible costs.
Because the grant is competitive, all items have been given a score. It is therefore important to consider what score an application has to improve the chances of an application being accepted.
How applications for productivity items are scored
Applications for productivity items are scored on:
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productivity benefit
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environmental benefit
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level of adoption by the industry
Each productivity item has a score up to 100.
The RPA will give your application a score by:
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adding together the scores for each item in your application
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dividing this number by the number of items in your application (applying for more than one of the same item, the item will only be counted once)
Worked example:
1 x FETF45: direct drill (item score 67)
2 x FETF51: retro fitted yield monitoring (item score 59)
1 x FETF220: real-time in line forage crop analyser (item score 57)
Application score: 61 (67+59+57 = 183. 183 ÷ 3 = 61)
Choosing eligible items:
To assist with application decisions, please see the table below, which summaries the scores that have been allocated. Item codes are given to assist with searches. Full eligibility details for each item are given on the webpage referenced above.
N.B. This table has focused on equipment for arable or horticultural field crops. There are also more options for horticulture, grassland management, water pumping, irrigation, dairy management, forestry – and deer carcass storage!
Having bought all this new equipment – you can also include cameras to monitor the farmyard (final table row)
Summary table for some items eligible for Improve Productivity FETF 2024 grant
Item code | Item | Score | Average Cost (£) | Grant % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FETF205 | 4m direct drill | 59 | 35,690 | 50% |
FETF206 | 4m direct drill with fertiliser placement | 68 | 68,000 | 60% |
FETF207 | Air drill for cover crops (3m+) | 64 | 3,150 | 60% |
FETF208 | 6m tractor mounted stubble rake | 61 | 16,800 | 50% |
FETF210 | 6m inter-row companion drill | 66 | 22,225 | 60% |
FETF211 | 3m liquid fertiliser applicator for seed drills or planters | 66 | 14,800 | 60% |
FETF212 | 6m liquid fertiliser applicator for seed drills or planters | 71 | 18,385 | 60% |
FETF410 | Combine mounted weed seed reduction system | 70 | 59,248 | 60% |
FETF44 | 3m direct drill | 54 | 30,135 | 50% |
FETF45 | 6m direct drill | 67 | 55,800 | 50% |
FETF51 | Retro-fitted yield monitor for combines and crop harvesters | 59 | 3,068 | 60% |
FETF54 | Controls for continuous grain dryer | 50 | 5.89 | 50% |
FETF55 | Grain stirrers | 40 | 21,685 | 50% |
FETF109 | Central tyre inflation system | 61 | 6,933 | 60% |
FETF110 | Cover crop roller (3m+) | 56 | 4,880 | 60% |
FETF111 | Cover crop roller (6m+) | 61 | 8,282 | 60% |
FETF117 | Crop storage sensor system | 55 | 4,818 | 50% |
FETF220 | Real time in-line grain analyser | 57 | 10,590 | 60% |
FETF421 | Onboard weighing system for agricultural trailers | 58 | 3,495 | 50% |
FETF422 | Tractor powered electric desiccator for weed and plant control | 87 | 89,500 | 60% |
FETF46 | GPS light bar | 54 | 809 | 50% |
FETF47 | Retro-fitted assisted steer system for a tractor | 49 | 1,911 | 60% |
FETF5 | Inter-row & intra-row weeder with camera recognition (1.8m+) | 88 | 60,348 | 60% |
FETF6 | Inter-row hoe with camera recognition (3m+) | 80 | 18,030 | 60% |
Inter-row hoe with camera recognition (6m+) | 85 | 50,786 | 60% | |
FETF214 | Soil health monitor package to include pH meter, soil moisture meter and penetrometer | 58 | 543 | 60% |
FETF215 | Trailed weed wiper (2.4m+) | 54 | 3,300 | 60% |
FETF216 | Camera guided inter-row sprayer (3m+) | 73 | 8,729 | 60% |
FETF217 | Camera guided inter-row sprayer (6m+) | 78 | 12,510 | 60% |
FETF218 | Robotic drill and guided hoe | 90 | 62,566 | 60% |
FETF418 | Automatic sprayer boom height control (retro-fitted) | 60 | 10,495 | 60% |
FETF419 | Sprayer closed transfer system for containers over 20 litres | 67 | 1,260 | 60% |
FET420 | Sprayer closed transfer system for containers under 20 litres | 67 | 3,838 | 60% |
FETF49 | Tractor mounted light reflectance sensor to measure crop nitrogen level | 66 | 13,350 | 60% |
FETF50 | Variable rate controller for seed drills, sprayers, and fertiliser applicators (retro-fitted) | 57 | 4,863 | 60% |
FETF425 | Camera guided spot sprayer with individual nozzle controls (24m+ & retro-fitted) | 78 | 46,000 | 60% |
FET118 | Digital weather station | 67 | 1,804 | 50% |
FET416 | PTO driven field drain cleaner | 59 | 12,306 | 50% |
FETF219 | Cameras for monitoring farmyard | 31 | 291 | 50% |