Guidance

About the Improving Farm Productivity grant Round 2, who can apply and what the grant can pay for

Updated 22 March 2024

Applies to England

You can apply for a grant for capital items to improve farm and horticulture productivity through: 

• the use of robotic or automatic equipment and systems to aid crop and livestock production
• wavelength specific LED lighting for horticultural crops
• advanced ventilation control units
• solar photovoltaic (PV) systems

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will prioritise funding for projects that: 

• improve productivity
• improve the environment
• introduce innovation
• introduce technology to address labour shortage (farm productivity projects)

The more your project meets the grant’s funding priorities, the higher your application will score.

Who can apply  

You can apply for a grant if you’re a farmer or horticulturalist in England. Contractors can also apply if they have a registered business address in England.    

Contractors are defined as a business (including a sole trader) that carries out an agricultural or horticultural activity as a service. Contractors are not eligible to apply for solar PV grant funding.

About the business   

The grant funded assets must be located in England. The grant must not be used to subsidise any related business or operations in Northern Ireland.   

If your grant funded asset is mobile, you’ll have to store and keep it in England when not in use.   

Both land owning and tenant farmers can apply. The project must be on land you own or farm as a tenant.  

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to obtain any necessary permissions from your landlord. If you are on a tenancy of less than 5 years which you expect to continue, you can sign a grant funding agreement on your own. 

Or you can ask your landlord to underwrite your agreement. This means that if your tenancy ends, your landlord agrees to take over the project, for example by completing the conditions themselves or passing the agreement on to a new tenant. This approach is optional and RPA will only ask for confirmation when you submit a full application.  

Who cannot apply   

The following groups are not eligible for the grants:   

• government departments, executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and any public body where the business forms part of their obligations as a public body
• members of Producer Organisations under the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme, if they have funding for the same project through their operational programme
• forestry businesses

What the grant can pay for  

If you’re eligible, you can get a grant to pay for capital items for a project to help you to improve farm productivity through: 

• improving efficiency and effectiveness of primary agricultural or horticultural production

• reducing your farm’s environmental impact resulting in a positive contribution to net zero and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction

• introducing technical innovation to optimise livestock production and field operations

• using automation in areas where access to labour is an issue

How much money you can apply for

  The maximum and minimum grant you can apply for depends on your project(s).

Farm Productivity grants

If your application is for robotic or automatic equipment, wavelength specific LED lighting and/or advanced ventilation control units, but does not include solar PV equipment, the minimum grant you can apply for is £25,000 (50% of £50,000). The maximum grant is £500,000 per applicant business.

Solar grants

If your application is for solar PV equipment only, the minimum grant you can apply for is £15,000 (25% of £60,000). The maximum grant is £100,000 per applicant business.

If you want to apply for both a Solar grant and a Farm Productivity grant, you must submit 2 separate applications. The maximum grant across all submitted applications is £500,000 in total, per applicant business.

You need to be able to pay the remaining project costs. You can use loans, overdrafts, and certain other monies. For example, money received through the Basic Payment Scheme or agri-environment schemes such as the Countryside Stewardship scheme. 

You cannot use other public money, such as grant funding from local authorities, towards the project costs. You also cannot use this grant to carry out capital works which you need to do as part of other agreements. 

Eligible costs   

The grant can be used to pay for the following items as part of your project. Read the Improving Farm Productivity equipment definitions and requirements for more information.   

Farm productivity     

The grant can be used to pay for the following items. 

Robotic and automatic technology 

 For equipment to be eligible, it has to be considered either robotic or automatic. This means that for:

• robotic: it has to perform all 4 of the following functions in a continuous loop by sensing, understanding, planning, and controlling without human intervention

• automatic: it has to perform at least 2 of the following functions:

  • sensing the environment in which it operates
  • understanding its environment from what it has sensed
  • planning what it needs to do from what it has understood
  • controlling the operation or process it has decided needs to be done (including controlling of actuators which may or may not be part of the eligible project costs)

You can use the grant to pay for:  

• harvesting technology
• weeding technology
• robotic spraying technology
• driverless tractors or platforms
• voluntary robotic milking system
• feeding robots
• transplanting technology
• slurry robots

Other robotic or automatic technology not included in this list will also be considered.  If your application is for ‘other robotic or automatic technology’, we will assess whether it is eligible at stage 1 of the application process, online checker. We may ask you to provide more information to help with this assessment.

Advanced ventilation control units 

The advanced ventilation control system will control and monitor ventilation of existing horticultural and livestock buildings.  You can read more information in the IFP Round 2 definitions and requirements guidance. 

Wavelength specific LED lighting for horticultural crops  

 The funding is to support the installation of wavelength specific LED lighting in existing horticultural buildings.  You can read more information in the IFP Round 2 definitions and requirements guidance.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems  

You can use the grant to pay for:  

• solar PV panels
• solar batteries
• inverters
• utility meters
• electrical grid connections
• power diverters

Solar PV panels can only be installed on: 

• farm building rooftops
• irrigation reservoirs

Other eligible costs  

Other eligible costs for Farm Productivity projects can include: 

• installation and commissioning of eligible items
• alterations to the electrical supply within the holding to accommodate the installation of the equipment, for example, additional wiring from the distribution board
• upgrade of electricity supply to the holding (providing this doesn’t add up to more than 10% of the project’s total eligible costs). The eligible cost must relate to the project to be undertaken. For example, if the project requires an additional 100 kW of electrical supply and the new supply is 200 kW, only half of the cost will be eligible. There needs to be clear detailed evidence of the power requirement of the project in the full application
• installation of charging points being an integral part of the robotic equipment

Fossil fuel power 

Reducing environmental impacts is an important aim of the scheme. This means eligible Farm Productivity equipment using an electric or renewable energy source will be prioritised over fossil fuel (for example diesel) powered equipment. Biofuels are considered as renewable energy under this scheme.    

What the grant cannot pay for 

The grant cannot be used to fund:  

• equipment used for the packing and processing of agricultural products such as eggs, fruit and vegetables
• other renewable energy generation projects such as anaerobic digester plants
• solar panels on a north facing roof or one that is heavily shaded
• a ground based solar array

The following costs are not eligible for grant funding (this list is not exhaustive):  

Standard agricultural equipment  

The grant will not cover the following standard agricultural equipment:  

• combine harvesters
• maize harvesters
• potato harvester
• sugar beet harvester
• conventional tractors

• conventional seed drills including:

  • mounted seed drills  
  • integrated seed drills
  • seed hoppers
  • cover crop seed drills
  • precision seed drills
  • trailed seed drills

• conventional sprayers including:

  • trailed  
  • mounted   
• conventional fertiliser spreaders
• mobile feeding trailer hoppers plus auger
• farmyard manure spreaders

• automatic feeding systems including:

  • out of parlour feeders 
  • sow feeders 
  • calf feeders
  • poultry feeding systems
• automatic slurry scrapers

Agricultural business costs  

The grant will not cover agricultural costs, such as:  

• normal agricultural inputs such as feed for livestock, sprays and fertiliser
• agricultural production rights and payment entitlements

General costs  

The grant will not cover general costs, such as:  

• projects that are carried out only to meet a legal requirement
• any costs incurred before the project start date shown in the grant funding agreement
• contingency costs
• the cost of getting any permissions, consents or statutory requirements, such as planning permission
• legal costs
• any items which you have already had EU or public funding for (or intend to get public funding for)
• relocation costs – if the business needs to relocate to expand
• costs associated with the provision of housing
• marketing and promotion

Buildings, land, and equipment costs  

The grant will not cover buildings, land and equipment costs, such as:  

• construction of new buildings or conversions of existing buildings including flooring for robotic milking parlours
• repairs and maintenance of existing buildings, equipment, and machinery
• like-for-like replacement of existing items (such as buildings, equipment and machinery)
• equipment used for the packing and processing of agricultural products such as eggs, fruit, and vegetables
• crop storage or equipment to aid crop storage
• slurry lagoons and above ground slurry stores
• manure storage
• irrigation projects
• purchase of machinery or equipment that will not be on the asset register of the business 5 years after completion of the project, for example equipment with life expectancy of less than 5 years
• equipment which would be supplementary to the robotic or automatic operation that would normally be considered as standard agricultural equipment, for example seed drill, ventilation fans
• purchase of land, whether or not this land is built on
• other renewable heat and energy systems
• replacement of existing solar PV panels

Business running costs  

The grant will not cover business running costs, such as:  

• salaries and running costs of the business
• in-kind contributions (this means the value of donated work or services) such as the cost of using your own labour, vehicle, and office space
• recurring monthly or annual licence fees, subscriptions, and service charges
• computers, software, and printers used in the general running of the business, like processing orders or accounts
• mobile phones

Financial costs  

The grant will not cover financial costs, such as:  

• bad debts
• advance payments
• insurance policy costs
• working capital
• financial charges, such as bank charges, fines, and interest
• costs connected with a leasing contract, such as a lessor’s margin, interest refinancing costs, overheads, and insurance charges   
• reclaimable VAT
• pension provision

How the grant works   

The grant is competitive, so RPA will score your application against the funding priorities. RPA will award a grant to the highest scoring applications.   

You’ll need to follow a 2-stage application process.   

Stage 1:

The online checker is closed. No new applications can be accepted.

The online checker is used to see if you’re eligible and how well your project fits the funding priorities. 

If demand is high, RPA will prioritise projects that best meet the scheme priorities. We will tell you if you are shortlisted to make a full application after the online checker has closed. 

Stage 2:  

If you’re eligible and your project scores highly enough against the funding priorities, we’ll send you an application form and project number to make a ‘full application’.   

If your full application is eligible and scores highly enough, RPA will offer you a grant.   

Read the How to apply guidance before you apply.