Capital grants - Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024

[Sonoftheheir]

Look at this apparently you lot are supposed to help me

 

[Wesley]

Look at this apparently you lot are supposed to help me
View attachment 1168740

They must’ve misunderstood the question & thought you were asking how to move a dead horse…

 

[Badshot]

FETF 416 Field Drain Jetter states minimum 200 litres output. The Homburg machin supplied by Fentons of Bourne is rated in the specification as 135 litres. I emailed RPA with links to the Homburg site asking if the 200 litres could be varied. I received the reply below: Does anyone know if there is a field jetter with rated capacity 200 litres?

Thank you for your email to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)

In order for an item to be eligible for FETF, the full specification must be met. We cannot accept a deviation from the stated specification.

There isn't one as far as I can find.
I too emailed, and told them the specifications are incorrect.
I also asked which machine met the spec

 

[Renaultman]

They must’ve misunderstood the question & thought you were asking how to move a dead horse…

Or buying a pickup

 

[Sonoftheheir]

There isn't one as far as I can find.
I too emailed, and told them the specifications are incorrect.
I also asked which machine met the spec

They seem to be ignoring the messages, they won’t tell you what machine or where they got the spec from? Why refer me back to a thread on here asking the same question without an answer?! I wonder if the only way is to go to one of their meetings?

 

[BigBarl]

Anyone else having trouble registering for the fetf? Put my e mail address in and it said there would be an email with a link to verify which never came. Rang them up and was told it because it's a hosted email address and I need to use one like Hotmail or Gmail. But it's the same email as registered with rpa. Reading the rules it seems I need to use the same email as registered with rpa?

Have you checked junk / spam inbox?

 

[Hindsight]

There isn't one as far as I can find.
I too emailed, and told them the specifications are incorrect.
I also asked which machine met the spe

They seem to be ignoring the messages, they won’t tell you what machine or where they got the spec from? Why refer me back to a thread on here asking the same question without an answer?! I wonder if the only way is to go to one of their meetings?

I too have emailed saying I think there specification is based on higher output machines - using to much water and pressure can see these damage the clay drains. Hey ho.

 

[Wombat]

Look at this apparently you lot are supposed to help me
View attachment 1168740

The spec reads very much like this one, but then on the pump spec it says 200l/min 50bar then below it says max 160 l/min 50bar.

I assume someone when googling in the defra office for spec just googled drain jetter not actually know what one for field drains looked like

MD50 DUO Drainjetter | Drainjetter

www.drainjetter.co.uk

 

[Andy26]

Where can you buy a GPS steering system for:

FETF47 - Assisted steer system (retro fitted for older tractors)​

Expected average cost of item (£): 1,911

Is this not just for a steering motor to add to an existing GPS lightbar type setup?

You could build an AgOpenGPS system for less, be far better too.

 

[lloyd]

They seem to be ignoring the messages, they won’t tell you what machine or where they got the spec from? Why refer me back to a thread on here asking the same question without an answer?! I wonder if the only way is to go to one of their meetings?

Moan, moan,moan it's free money now who said that i wonder.

 

[JJT]

Have you checked junk / spam inbox?

Yep, nothing. Ended up using my Hotmail address, which worked fine.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

The spec reads very much like this one, but then on the pump spec it says 200l/min 50bar then below it says max 160 l/min 50bar.

I assume someone when googling in the defra office for spec just googled drain jetter not actually know what one for field drains looked like

MD50 DUO Drainjetter | Drainjetter

www.drainjetter.co.uk

look

The spec reads very much like this one, but then on the pump spec it says 200l/min 50bar then below it says max 160 l/min 50bar.

I assume someone when googling in the defra office for spec just googled drain jetter not actually know what one for field drains looked like

MD50 DUO Drainjetter | Drainjetter

www.drainjetter.co.uk

Look, they do make proper fen drain cleaners too!

 

[Badshot]

Look, they do make proper fen drain cleaners too!
View attachment 1168780

I think the SS pro is possibly the best on the market.

 

[ERH Services Ltd]

@ERH Services Ltd you might know, how does the grant work for purchasing a CHCNAV system when they retail at £4995 but average cost on the list is £1911….. or is this just simply just the system to make it steer without the screen/dome/software ? View attachment 1167168

Hi Lewis, sorry for the delay in replying to this.

As far as I understand the £1911 is just a random figure that they say what an average cost is and bears no relation to the actual system you buy (No idea where they get this from)
The amount they approve for the grant will be a percentage of this figure (60%). You can buy whatever system you like and then claim £1146.60 back
Expected average cost of item (£): 1,911
Percentage paid towards item: 60%
Grant amount (based on a quantity of 1) (£): 1,146.60

Over the past few years we have had a few customers take advantage of this scheme but not all were approved and the process was long.

Application dates run from 6th March to 17th April. I don't know how long it takes to get an answer if approved or not.

I hope this has helped?

 

[penfold]

Hello folks,
I have some questions you may be able to help with.

1. When can we apply? I have signed up for email alerts but didn't know if there was anyone on here 'in the know'?

2. Can you apply for more than one item on each grant option? I know you can apply for more than one grant in each application.
We are looking into the direct drill offer.
One manufacture offers one front hopper with different tool bars to go on the rear. We currently run a disc direct drill but one option we are looking at is chopping that in along with a strip till drill and an old non direct tine drill (or selling separately as you cant trade in and use the grant) and buying one front hopper, which would be a split hopper, one disc rear toolbar and one tine rear tool bar.
This in theory (as I read the rules) could qualify for two grants. One FET45 Direct Drill 6m and one FETF207 Air Drill for establishing cover crops.
Can you apply for two FET45's as it would be two drills. Kind of!!! But only one metering unit. Kind of!
I'm guessing they wouldn't have foreseen this scenario but are they as rigid as people say? Is there even anyone to actually ask before submitting an application?

3. Another option we have (which rather depends on the answer to question 2!) is keep the disc drill and sell the two tine drills for one which can work direct. There are a number of options here and I like the look of two. These are both fairly straightforward mounted 6m with as little else other than the tines as possible. I'm not keen on trailed as most of these have wheels either in the form of a packer or immediately behind the tine and anything rolling (or not!) is what stops us drilling on our ground when things turn wet.
One of these can have fitted an integrated small seeder fitted but only has a very small 110l hopper. The cover crop air seeder option dictates that it should have a minimum hopper capacity of 300l. How strict are they going to be?

Overall we have a good case for our applications but the rigid layout of the scheme might hinder us.

Any thoughts or advice would be well received.

Thanks
Will

I have sent an email to the enquiries team about this. I will report back on what they say in case anyone else is in a similar boat.

 

[Hindsight]

I too have emailed saying I think there specification is based on higher output machines - using to much water and pressure can see these damage the clay drains. Hey ho.

Received the following reply to my email. 200 litres is it then chaps.


Thank you for your email to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)

The item specifications have been established in consultation with numerous industry stakeholders.

We review the items on the list between rounds with a commitment to both add and remove items where appropriate. In reviewing the list of items ahead of FETF 2024, farmers and other stakeholders were surveyed. This allowed them to suggest new items, those they were happy to see removed as well as amendments to existing items. The Qualtrics survey for Productivity and Slurry items was issued on 24 May 2023 and remained until 12 June 2023.

Animal Health and Welfare surveys ran from 24 July 2023 to 7 August 2023, and were followed by extensive engagement with farmers, vets and academics to prioritise items based on their contribution to the published Animal Health and Welfare Pathway priorities.

Defra and co-design panels ranked the items according to scoring criteria previously agreed in collaboration with stakeholders.

Productivity and Slurry list, items were prioritised based on three broad categories: their contribution to productivity, environmental sustainability, and the level of perceived adoption within the industry.

Animal Health and Welfare items were prioritised primarily according to their health and welfare benefit, with consideration given to productivity, environmental sustainability and degree of innovation.

Following this, a finalised list was produced and circulated among key stakeholders for review. This was then passed to the RPA for them to draft specifications for all new items and establish average costs for individual items.

Those items put forward and not included for FETF 2024 will be retained and considered as part of any future review.

One of the aims of the scheme has always been to improve farm productivity through supporting adoption of new technologies for smaller farmers and this item was introduced with this aim in mind. As part of our investigation, we will consider how we can include this item in the future while still meeting this aim



If we can help with anything further please feel free to contact the FETF Team on [email protected] or 03000 200 301 selecting the options for FETF.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Received the following reply to my email. 200 litres is it then chaps.


Thank you for your email to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF)

The item specifications have been established in consultation with numerous industry stakeholders.

We review the items on the list between rounds with a commitment to both add and remove items where appropriate. In reviewing the list of items ahead of FETF 2024, farmers and other stakeholders were surveyed. This allowed them to suggest new items, those they were happy to see removed as well as amendments to existing items. The Qualtrics survey for Productivity and Slurry items was issued on 24 May 2023 and remained until 12 June 2023.

Animal Health and Welfare surveys ran from 24 July 2023 to 7 August 2023, and were followed by extensive engagement with farmers, vets and academics to prioritise items based on their contribution to the published Animal Health and Welfare Pathway priorities.

Defra and co-design panels ranked the items according to scoring criteria previously agreed in collaboration with stakeholders.

Productivity and Slurry list, items were prioritised based on three broad categories: their contribution to productivity, environmental sustainability, and the level of perceived adoption within the industry.

Animal Health and Welfare items were prioritised primarily according to their health and welfare benefit, with consideration given to productivity, environmental sustainability and degree of innovation.

Following this, a finalised list was produced and circulated among key stakeholders for review. This was then passed to the RPA for them to draft specifications for all new items and establish average costs for individual items.

Those items put forward and not included for FETF 2024 will be retained and considered as part of any future review.

One of the aims of the scheme has always been to improve farm productivity through supporting adoption of new technologies for smaller farmers and this item was introduced with this aim in mind. As part of our investigation, we will consider how we can include this item in the future while still meeting this aim



If we can help with anything further please feel free to contact the FETF Team on [email protected] or 03000 200 301 selecting the options for FETF.

What machine is it then @Hindsight ?

 

[Badshot]

What machine is it then @Hindsight ?

I don't believe there is one, I'm sure someone hit the wrong button when writing the spec

 

[Alias]

I'm not looking for a jetter, but I saw this in the FG and it appears to meet the spec ?

 

[Sonoftheheir]

I'm not looking for a jetter, but I saw this in the FG and it appears to meet the spec ?


View attachment 1170544

But I want one like this -