About The Fund: The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024 offers three grants to assist applicants in purchasing items for their business. You can apply for multiple grants for items that fit your business needs. FETF 2024 operates on a competitive basis, so you may not receive all or any of the funding you apply for.
Benefits of The Farming Equipment And Technology Fund 2024
Successful applicants will receive:
- a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items.
- a £1,000 minimum allocation and a maximum of £50,000 towards slurry items.
- an allocation of £1,000 and a maximum allocation of £25,000 for animal health and welfare items
Eligibility of The Farming Equipment And Technology Fund 2024
Applicants can apply for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024 if what they do is around England and if the person is a:
- farmer
- horticulturalists
- forestry owner
- contractor carrying out services to farmers, horticulturalists, or forestry owners
If you have previously received funding from either FETF grants or the Countryside Productivity Scheme (CPSG), you may be eligible to apply.
The FETF Animal Health and Welfare Grant is available only to farmers who farm any of the following:
- beef cattle
- dairy cattle
- sheep
- pigs
- Laying chickens (including rearing and breeding farms)
- Broiler chickens, including those raised in rearing and breeding farms
Funding is not available for other types of livestock and poultry, including goats, ducks, turkeys, geese, and gamebirds.
If at the end of the day you choose to leave farming through the Lump Sum Exit Scheme, you are not eligible for FETF. However, you can still apply for FETF if you are a farmer who receives a lump sum payment and continues to work as a contractor.
Who Cannot Apply
This grant is not open to government departments, executive agencies, or non-departmental public bodies, such as the Ministry of Defence or the Forestry Commission.
Items you can apply for:
1. Apply for items from the productivity, slurry, and animal health and welfare lists.
2. All items must be new and meet the necessary specifications in each list.
3. You can buy items with higher specifications, but not those below the minimum specification. For example, you can buy a 12-metre (m) drill if the minimum specification is 6m, provided all other criteria are met.
4. Only one item can receive funding if it meets multiple specifications. For instance, if you want to buy a yield monitoring device with variable rate control functionality, you may apply for either a yield monitoring or a variable rate controller item, but not both.
5. You can apply for funding for similar items to those funded through other schemes, but not identical items. For example, if you received funding for a building through another scheme, you can still apply for a FETF grant to purchase machinery for that building.
6. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will require an explanation if you reapply for the same item that you previously funded through FETF grants.
7. Items funded by FETF grants must be retained for 5 years from the date the claim was made.
Items you cannot apply for
You are prohibited from applying for a grant for the following reasons:
1. Items using part exchange.
2. Second-hand, ex-demonstration, and ‘try before you buy’ items.
3. Items on hire, purchase, or lease.
4. Items already purchased.
5. Items you have from a different scheme, such as the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF), Countryside Stewardship (CS), and the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme.
6. Home-built items.
7. Products sourced from a supplier or manufacturer that you or your business have any affiliation or link with.
8. Items not listed or not meeting the minimum specification.
9. Replacement items that are on the insurance claim.
10. Delivery or installation costs for an item.
How much money you’ll receive
The RPA calculates an expected average cost for each item, based on costs from a cross-section of suppliers. The RPA will provide you with either 50% or 60% of the following:
- the average cost of the item—if an item costs you the same or more than the expected average cost in the item lists
- 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:
- a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 towards productivity items.
- There is a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £50,000 for slurry items.
- 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 costs.
How to apply
To apply for FETF, follow these steps:
1. Check the specifications of the items you wish to apply for in the 2024 items and specifications lists; specifications may have changed from previous FETF item lists.
2. Check the availability of the items you wish to apply for with your supplier.
3. 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.
4. Register with the Rural Payments service here.
5. Ensure 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.
6. Read the FETF 2024 terms and conditions.
7. Register and log in to the Farming Investment Fund service to submit your application by the application deadlines (this is separate from 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.
8. You’ll receive an acknowledgement email within 24 hours of applying; you may need to check your junk folder for emails about your application.
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.
You can only accept one grant funding agreement (GFA) for each grant. Once you have accepted a GFA, you cannot apply again for the same grant in 2024. For instance, 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.
