New Farming Investment Fund launched today

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I totally agree and all it does is devalue kit that is already on the farm....but with inflation cant see a very big take up ,they are quite clever and time it as the SFP payments arrive, if i wanted a new prattley i bet the waiting list is a mile long....cant get a new quad for six months...well there you are...enjoy your grants
The SFP you can spend on what ever you need , whereas the grant scheme...
 
Hate to be a kill joy & as welcome as any help is this to me simply seems a way to put farmers further in debt with very little improvement to the bottom line.
I'm sure we would all love new equipment but it has to be remembered that 60% of the cost of all this is coming out of our pockets & the real benefactors of this are the endless suppliers who are no doubt breaking open the champagne & raising their prices just as we speak.
The majority of farmers have struggled to make profits with the way the single farm payment has been, we now will all have shiny new toys just as the payments disappear with no increase in profits but far bigger overdrafts, how this helps UK farmers is beyond me.
We've chosen items that can improve efficiency / productivity based on evidence, but of course each farmer needs to make their own decisions about what makes sense for their business.

For those who want support with business planning (which many won't, but some do) we're also funding free business planning advice for people thinking about how they're going to manage the transition away from BPS https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/13/the-future-farming-resilience-fund-providers-named/
 
Looks good.

Be nice to see some items for egg production on there occasionally though. Manure drying systems, composting kit etc?

Also, optical counters: https://www.vencomaticgroup.com/product/egg-production/meggsius-count

Leak detectors: https://www.vencomaticgroup.com/product/egg-production/meggsius-detect

Or even a proper egg sorter: https://www.vencomaticgroup.com/product/egg-production/meggsius-select

Pretty please?!

P.S. Other equipment manufacturers are available...
Hi Daniel - thanks for this, I've passed this list onto the team, we'll take a look for future rounds
 

redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
A 3m direct drill must be approaching 40k by now yet the grant has been increased by £54 to £12,054!

Also grants for automated steering, gps etc still only eligible if its retrofitted which must be one of the most uneconomical ways of doing it while a big percentage of tractors out there are autosteer ready!
Or have I read that wrong?
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Looks ok. Sadly not a lot I can use or need - clearly I must be highly efficient!

I know it's not "cool" but maybe a smaller, discretionary scheme where we can pitch for items not on the list? For example, I'd like to put a crossing under the road for slurry spreading rather than lay a pipe over the road. It's not especially expensive, but at the same time it's a luxury that can be lived without, yet would be both safer and more convenient.

I'm sure most farmers have these small niggling things that are not dear to fix, but that we all live with, aren't dear, but are way down the list of things - shoes for the kids and food on the table being top.
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
We've chosen items that can improve efficiency / productivity based on evidence, but of course each farmer needs to make their own decisions about what makes sense for their business.

For those who want support with business planning (which many won't, but some do) we're also funding free business planning advice for people thinking about how they're going to manage the transition away from BPS https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/13/the-future-farming-resilience-fund-providers-named/
As I say Janet I don't want to seem ungrateful but very few of these things will make the average farm more profitable, unfortunately in fact in most cases it will be quite the opposite unless of course new machines mean you are able to sack the occasional workman saving a wage, I would love to know how the ministry see these grants improving the profitability of our UK farms?
 

Enfoff

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East
We have reviewed all the prices with the help of independent experts so we think they are reasonable, but we will be keeping an eye on prices and what we eventually pay out and will use that to inform future rounds
Sounds like it may be worth waiting until the next round when the prices are aligned with the real world? The electric fencing package grant amount of £341 is only around 20% of the price for Rappa stuff which is all out of stock anyway!
 

E_B

Member
Location
Norfolk
The GPS related inclusions are costed too low to contribute meaningfully towards the purchase of a retrofitted system accurate enough to be used for the precise application of pesticides. I thought this in the CSPSG scheme also.

Hopefully, as a participant in the SFI piot scheme, the capital item grants will be more generous in this area, and help me adhere to the requirements of the soil standard.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
As I say Janet I don't want to seem ungrateful but very few of these things will make the average farm more profitable, unfortunately in fact in most cases it will be quite the opposite unless of course new machines mean you are able to sack the occasional workman saving a wage, I would love to know how the ministry see these grants improving the profitability of our UK farms?
Careful now Brian. Don't spoil it. It's free money don't you know. The country runs on it. Otherwise known as pouring petrol on the raging fire of runaway inflation to folks like you and me. What could possibly go wrong? ;)
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
BrianV said:
Hate to be a kill joy & as welcome as any help is this to me simply seems a way to put farmers further in debt with very little improvement to the bottom line.
I'm sure we would all love new equipment but it has to be remembered that 60% of the cost of all this is coming out of our pockets & the real benefactors of this are the endless suppliers who are no doubt breaking open the champagne & raising their prices just as we speak.
The majority of farmers have struggled to make profits with the way the single farm payment has been, we now will all have shiny new toys just as the payments disappear with no increase in profits but far bigger overdrafts, how this helps UK farmers is beyond me.

For those who want support with business planning (which many won't, but some do) we're also funding free business planning advice for people thinking about how they're going to manage the transition away from BPS https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/13/the-future-farming-resilience-fund-providers-named/

Just wondering how these many hundreds of millions of pounds of grants for this shiny new equipment tallies with the Governments claim of a greener healthier future, surely the production of all this additional new equipment has to have a serious cost carbon wise, whatever will Greta think & say?
 

Jerry

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Devon
A 3m direct drill must be approaching 40k by now yet the grant has been increased by £54 to £12,054!

Also grants for automated steering, gps etc still only eligible if its retrofitted which must be one of the most uneconomical ways of doing it while a big percentage of tractors out there are autosteer ready!
Or have I read that wrong?
 

cattleman123

Member
Location
devon
Disappointed 😞, looking to upgrade my cattle handling facilities, but the grant is certainly less than 40% with the price of steel etc.
Got 2 quotes currently, grant total about 20%.
Will stick with what I've got.
Good job I seem to have an endless supply of string :LOL: .
My mate always takes the micky about my string tieing..he reckons i could make a water trough with it
 

tinsheet

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Somerset
Lots of people saying prices are not representative.

Anybody have a quote they could add to this thread to illustrate this?
2020 price before steel rocketed
IAE, fixed handling setup (cattle) £13000 Bateman was more from memory.
Current grant total £3866
40% of the above £ 5200.
plus you need to factor in fitting it costs and concrete etc.
Can't justify the outlay on small Hill farm
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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