During his speech on the 9th of June at the Royal Cornwall Show, the Secretary of State announced the opening of applications for the Farming Investment Fund, Adding Value. This £ 30 million fund will enable farmers in England to purchase equipment to process, diversify and add value to their products after they have been harvested or reared. This could include premises and equipment for the preparation or processing of agricultural produce, or equipment such as vending machines and display facilities for selling food direct to customers. The funding will be offered in sums between £25,000 and £300,000. More information is available on the Future Farming blog.
It has also been announced that the first round of the new Slurry Infrastructure grants, worth £13 million, will open later this autumn. These new grants will help livestock farmers in England upgrade their slurry storage and nutrient management systems and, in so doing, help reduce water and air pollution from slurry. Guidance for applicants is now available on GOV.UK and further details have also been released in our blog post.
A press release has also been issued on the subjects above.
Also on the 9th of June, Minister Churchill was in attendance at the Cereals show where she spoke about the Farming Innovation Programme. An additional £ 2.5 million will be put towards the Feasibility Projects competition, bringing its total budget to £8 million. Part of the flagship Farming Innovation Programme, which funds research and innovation in the sector, this competition is funding over 20 projects covering a range of issues, from developing sustainable low-impact fertiliser by recycling residues from agricultural waste to proposals to detect early lameness in cattle.
An announcement has also been made by UK Research and Innovation, Defra’s delivery partner for the Programme. More information on the winning projects will be shared on the FFCP Blog in the coming days. Further details, lines to take and Q&A documents are available for all the schemes mentioned above.
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