Credit: Steve Knight
I am pleased to say you can now apply for a productivity and slurry management grant through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2024.
Last month, I blogged about the FETF and improvements we've made. I also included a link to the official FETF 2024 guidance. We recently made an update to it, so please note that the online guidance on GOV.UK is the very latest guidance.
In this post, I'll set out the process to apply and how you can learn more.
Overview
The FETF provides grants for farming equipment and technology that supports improvements in productivity, slurry management and animal health and welfare.
Grants for productivity and slurry management items are available now. The deadline to apply is midday 17 April 2024.
Grants for animal health and welfare items will be available later this month.
Farmers, foresters, growers and contractors to those sectors can apply.
You can apply for one grant from each of the 3 themes. The fund is competitive.
Successful applicants will receive a grant of:
- a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items
- a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards slurry items
- a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £25,000 towards animal health and welfare items
We will pay a percentage of the cost depending on the item. For many items, this percentage is an increase on last year. This funding will go towards either:
- the average cost of the item - if an item costs you the same or more than the expected average cost in the item list
- the actual cost you pay for the item - if an item costs you less than the expected average cost in the item list
Steps to apply
- Read the FETF 2024 guidance for information about the grants and the item lists.
- 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.
- Check the availability of the items you want to apply for with your supplier.
- Do not order or buy anything at this stage, unless you are paying with a refundable deposit. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will reject your claim if you do not meet these conditions.
- Register with the Rural Payments service.
- Check your business and contact details in the Rural Payments service are correct. 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.
- Read the FETF 2024 terms and conditions.
- Register and login to the Farming Investment Fund service to submit your application by the application deadlines. The Farming Investment Fund service 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 answer questions about you and your business. Your details must match those in the Rural Payments service. Your application should take around 20 minutes to complete.
- Make sure that your application is complete before you submit it. You won't be able to amend your application after it's been submitted.
You'll receive an acknowledgement email within 24 hours of applying - you may need to check your junk folder for emails about your application.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will allocate funding once all the applications have been received and scored. You may not receive any, or all of the funding you apply for.
If your application is successful, the RPA will send you a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). GFAs for each grant will be sent separately. If your application is unsuccessful, the RPA will write to you to tell you why.
Use the Farming Investment Fund service to accept your GFA by the deadline which will be in the email. You'll need to select each grant to accept each GFA.
We've set out the steps you'll need to follow to claim your FETF 2024 grant payment on GOV.UK.
Future application windows
We expect to open 2 more productivity and slurry application windows later this year.
The first application window for animal health and welfare items will open later this month, we will post again when it is time to apply.
The item specifications and their costs are the same in each application window. The total overall budget for each grant is split evenly across the application windows.
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 different window.
If you've accepted a grant funding agreement (GFA) to buy items from a grant, you cannot apply again for the same grant in 2024.
Learn more at our webinar
Our team hosted a webinar covering the grants available on 12 March 2024.
Applications for the animal health and welfare grants will open soon. Subscribe to the blog to receive a reminder on the day.