Investing in your farm can require large upfront costs, and this can be a deterrent for many farmers; even though the investments will have great long-term effects. Farming technology allows for better tracking, profitability, and efficiency. DEFRA grants for farmers are available to help cover a percentage of the upfront cost, in order to help with investments into new farming technology. Farm grants are nonrepayable funds that help farms, and farmers, to create better, more sustainable crop production. 

What grants are available for farmers? 

Farming Futures R&D Fund: Sustainable farm-based protein 

Entrance applications closes 21st September 2022 

There is an allocated fund of £12.5m, where applicants compete for funding into innovation solutions for sustainable farm-based protein production. The funding is provided by the Farming Futures R&D fund. Productivity and efficiency are crucial areas that the farming industry is desperate for solutions, especially regarding sustainable protein sources. The competition is split into two areas, feasibility studies, and industrial research. There are criteria that your project must meet in order to be eligible. The feasibility studies projects must cost between £200k and £500k, and £500k to £1m for industrial research; the project must start by 1st April 2023; lasting up to 24 months; be collaborative; be based in the UK; exploit the results from or in England; have a minimum of 50% of the grant allocated to farmers, growers, or foresters based in England. Your proposal must also consider your progression towards net zero, and have resilient longevity.  

Future Fund  

Opened for applicants on 31st August 2022 

The Future Fund was recently opened for applicants based on farming, growing, and forestry businesses or researchers interested in research and development into agriculture and horticulture. Broken into two rounds, round one of the competitions, is regarding feasibility of the projects, and round two is for small research and development partnership projects. If you are you looking to increase productivity and or environmental sustainability in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, then you could be eligible for this farming technology grant.  

Why would you apply for a farm grant? 

Efficiency  

Manage your resources, where people need to be, and when they need to be there in real time. Increasing your production workflow efficiency allows for better yields, and less unproductive work hours.  

Traceability  

Using software, such as Live Farmer, makes documenting a crops journey much easier. Many supermarkets require a full log of the crops journey. This can be difficult to trace back afterwards, which is why you should invest in software that does it automatically for you. 

The farming grants available change periodically, and can be tricky to navigate. Get in touch with us today to find out more, or sign up to our newsletter for tips, tricks, and products to get the most out of your farm!