Last chance to to apply for Defra animal health and welfare grants grants of up to £25,000
15th Jun 2023 / By Alistair Driver
Today is the last chance to apply for grants under the first round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.
The fund provides grants, from £1000 to £25,000, for a variety of items that could help pig farmers improve their pigs' health and welfare.
Animal Health and Welfare grants
The Pig Pathway is starting to take shape, with various Animal Health and Welfare grants available via the fund, which opened in March.
Defra worked closely with farmers, academics and industry groups to compile the list of items, which, for pigs, includes:
Handling and moving pigs
- Fixed handling systems
- Electronic pig weighing and sorting facility
- Portable loading ramp
Feed and water
- Individual ad lib farrowing feeder
- Electronic sow feeder
- Feed bin weighing equipment for pigs
- Water tank drinker with stand
Enrichment
- Hanging enrichment toys
- Foraging tower for enrichment
- Enrichment block holder
Flooring
- Slatted floor inserts
- Rubber coverings for slatted floors for pig buildings
Housing
- Enclosed piglet creeps with heat pad
- Automatic curtain system for pig housing
- Insulated farrowing ark
- Robot pen cleaner
- Auto-monitoring system for main unit for pig housing.
In time, this offer will be expanded to include match funding for large infrastructure projects to achieve higher levels of animal health and welfare on farms.
Defra said that applying for these grants should take no longer than 20 minutes. The grants are competitive, meaning the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will score applications, and if the scheme is oversubscribed, allocate funding to those applications with the highest average score first.
More information
Here is where you can make an application, or find out more:
- The full list of items available through the grant
- The guidance for how to apply for a grant
- More information about the Farming Equipment and Technology Grant
- A short video explainer of the application process
- You should check your application thoroughly before you submit it, to make sure the items you are applying for are suitable for your business needs and you can obtain them by the claim deadline.
- Submit your application using the Animal Health and Welfare portal.
- The Animal Health and Welfare portal is open until midday, June 15, 2023.