Investment of £168m awarded to drive innovation and boost farming productivity

More than £168 million in grants will be available to farmers this year to drive innovation, support food production, improve animal health and welfare and protect the environment.

Speaking at the National Farmers’ Union conference in Birmingham, Farming Minister Mark Spencer will set out how the grants will drive the development of new technology and innovative ways of farming, with a focus on practical solutions that advance food productivity and deliver significant environmental and animal welfare benefits.

These could include robotic technology to support with harvesting, handling equipment and cow mattresses to help prevent lameness in dairy cattle, sensors on tractors to measure the levels of nutrients in soils, or improvements to slurry storage - to further the efforts of farmers aiming to minimise their fertiliser use, and in turn reduce water and air pollution.

The grants, delivered through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) and Farming Investment Fund (FIF), will sit alongside the Environmental Land Management schemes which pay farmers for a diverse range of actions such as managing hedgerows for wildlife, planting nectar-rich wildflowers and managing crop pests without the use of insecticides.

Every year animal sickness, such as lameness in cattle, leads to the loss of thousands of livestock which in turn decreases productivity and contributes to farm emissions. New dedicated funding for annual vet-led health and welfare checks for livestock and money to support farmers implement improvements following these visits has been announced through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. 

Taken together, these schemes and grants will help to deliver long-term sustainable food production and support farmers to halt and reverse the decline of nature as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan.

Speaking at the NFU conference, Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: "The role farmers play in putting food on our tables as well as looking after our countryside is crucial. We know that sustainable food production depends on a healthy environment, the two go hand in hand."

"Helping farms invest in new technology as well as bringing in nature-friendly schemes will support the future of farming."

This funding forms part of the government’s commitment to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation, research and development over three years, funded out of the £2.4 billion annual farming budget which is being maintained at its current level for the rest of this Parliament.

It follows a series of significant announcements by the government on future farming policy in England.

Find out more here.