IN Brief:
- Defra confirmed a £345m package spanning £70m innovation funding, £50m equipment grants, and up to £225m capital grants.
- The Sustainable Farming Incentive is being streamlined to 71 actions, with agreements capped at £100,000 per year.
- Government also signalled new work on biosecurity, including poultry reviews and a consultation on mandatory vet visits.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has set out a £345 million funding package aimed at accelerating productivity, innovation, and resilience in English agriculture, with details published alongside the Environment Secretary’s address to the National Farmers’ Union Conference.
In Defra’s announcement, the £345m headline comprises £70m for the Farming Innovation Programme, £50m for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, and a new round of Environmental Land Management (ELM) Capital Grants with “up to £225 million available”, scheduled to open in July 2026. The press release frames the support as a route to productivity gains, new technology adoption, and longer-term infrastructure upgrades.
Defra says the Farming Innovation Programme funding is intended to move research into practical tools, citing prior awards supporting projects ranging from methane-cutting cattle feed to protected cropping approaches designed to cope with heat stress. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund is positioned as support for on-farm investments that improve productivity, animal health and welfare, and slurry management, including automation and more precise application equipment.
Alongside the funding, Defra detailed changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). The SFI offer is being cut from 102 actions to 71, with agreements capped at £100,000 per year. Defra says applications will open in June 2026 for small farms and those without a live ELM revenue agreement, defining small farms as holdings of three to 50 hectares registered with the Rural Payments Agency as of 1 January 2026, followed by a second application window in September 2026.
In the Environment Secretary’s NFU speech, government also set out further commitments tied to biosecurity and animal health. The speech states that poultry keepers will be included in vet-led support from summer 2026 and confirms a consultation on making Animal Health and Welfare Reviews — “vet visits” — mandatory for cattle, sheep, and pig farmers in England. Defra’s press release also references a new grant to offer poultry biosecurity reviews delivered through on-farm vet visits.
