I am pleased to reveal £104 753 has been awarded to farmers and foresters in Mid Sussex as part of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. This will help growers in our area to boost farm productivity, reduce waste and cut input costs, as well as increase environmental sustainability and improve slurry management.
The farmers and foresters in Mid Sussex work hard around the clock to keep great quality food on our plates, so it’s great to see a further £100,000 of investment from government. Our farmers are the engine of our rural economy, bringing jobs and opportunity to our area. I will always always back our farmers and the latest round of announcements recognise the importance of coordinated action across government to support confidence, investment and growth in British food.
The Government has increased the budget to £31 million in response to farmer demand from the original budget of £17 million. This means more than 3,000 farmers and contractors across the UK are set to receive grants to invest in improving the sustainability of their farm businesses.
Through the fund UK Gov are offering investment in over 90 pieces of equipment which will support food security by, for example, reducing the spread of pests and diseases and sustainably managing valuable nutrients on farm. Examples of successful applications include rainwater harvesting tanks to improve water security for farmers in the summer; tree shears to help stop the spread of pests and diseases; to equipment to minimise grass contamination and ammonia emissions when spreading slurry.
The fund forms part of the Government’s manifesto commitment to invest £2.4 billion per year in farming for the rest of this Parliament. In 2023 alone, at least £168 million is being made available to increase farming productivity through 16 different grants and competitions themed around productivity, research and innovation.
The Government plan to offer further rounds of this offer, alongside larger grants to support further investment in water storage and improving irrigation slurry infrastructure, as well as funding for automation and robotics. This sits alongside our Environmental Land Management schemes, where payments for over 200 actions are currently available to farmers across the country. I will update you on this in due course.
Today's announcement follows the UK Farm to Fork Summit held in Downing Street last month where the Government announced a package of support for the farming sector, including new measures to ensure the sector remains at the forefront of developing and adopting new technologies and techniques.