In 2023, through a variety of grants £168m of funding will be available, a summary of the grants and links to further sources of funding can be found below. As part of the Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF) you can sign up to have a farm assessment and a NIAB, Savills or AKC farm consultant can help you navigate the funds available and how to apply, they are funded by the government to help secure the future of your farming business.
Visit the NIAB Future Farming Resilience Fund Website for more information.
Grants to fund a yearly vet visit.
You can apply now until March 2025 based on the successful first year and a half.
The Annual Health and Welfare Review is a funded annual visit from your chosen vet or team of vets. It will allow you and your vet to concentrate on your animals’ specific health and welfare priorities. Initially, only farmers who are eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme can register, but this will be expanded over time.
At the moment, to be eligible to apply you must have one of the following:
How much you can get
£684 for pigs
£436 for sheep
£522 for beef cattle
£372 for dairy cattle
You can register for a vet visit now.
The Annual Health and Welfare Review is part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway
For more information read the official guidance on the Annual Health and Welfare Review and register your interest.
Grants for equipment to support productivity and slurry management.
The Productivity and Slurry grant is available now until 4 April 2023.
Productivity and slurry grants are available through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. With farmers and other experts, Defra have compiled a list of items which will help improve agricultural sustainability and productivity in horticulture and forestry. These will help farmers use less inputs, reduce emissions and cut waste.
You can apply for a grant if your business is in England and you’re a:
farmer (whether tenant or landowner)
horticulturalist
forestry owner
contractor carrying out services to any of the above
The minimum grant amount is £1,000. The maximum is £25,000. Defra reduced the minimum grant after receiving feedback that a lower level allows more farmers to benefit.
This grant is offered through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which in turn, is part of the Farming Investment Fund.
For more information, read the official guidance for productivity and slurry grants and apply for a grant through the portal.
Grants to support tree health.
Grants are available through the pilot until it ends in 2024.
The tree health pilot tests different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. What we learn from the pilot will inform the design of the future Tree Health Scheme. Through the pilot, you can get grants for:
larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum
spruce trees affected by Ipstypographus
sweet chestnut trees with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight
oak trees with oak processionary moth
ash trees with ash dieback
Forestry Commission will help with identification of particular pests or diseases. The trees or woodlands you manage must be in one of these regions of England:
North-west
West Midlands
South-east
London
Grant amounts vary. More information can be found on the specific grant pages:
The Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN) advice grant is a £475 standard cost package.
For more information, this grant is offered through the tree health pilot scheme.
Grants to support farming in protected landscapes.
This grant is for farmers and land managers in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), National Parks and the Broads.
Grants are available to support:
nature recovery
mitigation of the impacts of climate change
opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage
protection or improvement of the quality and character of the landscape or place.
You could get up to 100% of the costs of a project if you will not make a commercial gain from it. If you will benefit commercially from a project, then Defra will fund a proportion of the costs. The amount will depend on how much the project will benefit your business.
This grant is offered through the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.
For more information read the official guidance for farming in protected landscapes.
Other Technology Grants relating to farming.
Grants to start a research project.
The third round of this competition closed on Wednesday 8 March 2023 at 11:00am.
Research Starter Competition, farmers, growers and forestry businesses based in England could apply for a grant to improve productivity, sustainability, resilience and move the agricultural sector to net zero. At the full application stage, project’s total costs must be between £28,000 and £56,000.
The Research Starter Competition is part of the Farming Innovation Programme.
For more infomation read the official guidance and apply for the Farming Innovation Programme: Research Starter (Round 3).
Grants for automation and robotics
Available until 15 March 2023.
Through the Farming Futures R&D Fund competition, UK registered businesses can apply for grants to develop innovative ideas in the areas of robotics and automation. There are two strands to the competition:
Collaborative industry-led research projects
Collaborative, experimental development projects
Collaborative industry-led research projects offer grants for project costs between £500,000 and £1 million over 36-48 months Collaborative, experimental development projects offer grants for project costs between £750,000-£1.5 million over 24-36 months The Farming Futures R&D Fund competition is part of the Farming Innovation Programme.
For more information read the official guidance for the Farming Futures competition and apply.
Grants for research and development to develop a new technology or service.
The competition closes on 19 April 2023.
The Large R&D Partnerships competition offers funding for Industrial Research and Experimental Development projects. These range from those that will accelerate the development and demonstration of new agricultural solutions, to those that can be integrated into existing agricultural practices.
They should help address major challenges and opportunities on-farm, or those immediately post farmgate.
Projects must address a significant industry challenge or opportunity in at least one of the areas below:
livestock
plants
novel food production systems
bioeconomy and agroforestry
Your solutions or project outputs must also significantly improve:
productivity
sustainability and environmental impact of farming
progression towards net zero emissions
resilience. For example, helping farms deal with input stresses, such as the recent spike in fertiliser prices, or threats from pests and disease
You can get between £3 million and £5 million. Businesses will be expected to provide match funding for the projects.
The large R&D partnerships projects competition is part of the Industry-led R&D Partnerships Fund, which is part of the Farming Innovation Programme.
For more information read the official guidance on the large R&D partnership projects competition and apply.