£25 million has been made available in grants for productivity-boosting farming equipment in the third and final round of the government’s Countryside Productivity Small Grants (CPSG) scheme.
Under the scheme, farmers can apply for grants of between £3,000 and £12,000 to buy new equipment from livestock monitoring cameras to precision farming technology, which will help them to save time and improve productivity.
New items have been added to the list of available equipment that will help farmers to benefit the environment, such as equipment designed to help minimise soil compaction in fields, monitor ammonia levels in farm buildings and increase machinery precision when applying slurry.
Farmers who have been successful in applying for grants in previous rounds of the scheme are still able to apply for different pieces of equipment within this final round up to the scheme’s limit of £12,000 per farmer, meaning that they can streamline other elements of their business or start the move towards farming more sustainably.
James said - "Farmers are always looking for ways to be more productive. I encourage all farming businesses in West Norfolk to explore how they can take advantage of this popular scheme to buy new equipment and boost productivity."
To date, £35 million has been allocated to farmers in the scheme’s first two funding rounds, with today’s announcement bringing the total funding made available under the scheme to £60 million.
Although this is the final round of the Small Grants scheme, powers have been included in the Agriculture Bill to allow the government to provide financial assistance to support farmers to invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure that will not only boost their productivity, but also deliver environmental and other public benefits. Further detail on the support available from 2021 is due to be released later this year.
Farmers will have until midday on 4 November to make an application to the Rural Payments Agency.
Click here for more information on the Countryside Productivity Small Grants scheme and the handbook for this round of the scheme.
