The Farming Transformation Fund

• equipment for preparing or processing edible agricultural products for added value sales
• equipment for ‘second stage’ processing of grain – for example, colour sorting, blending
• equipment for processing non-edible agricultural products into new products (for example, flax, hemp, wool, hides, and skins)
• equipment for retailing eligible agricultural products (for example, vending machines or display facilities)
• premises for the preparation or processing of added value agricultural products, including associated integral storage areas

Stage 1: check if you’re eligible using an online checker (10 mins)

The RPA will ask you questions about the store including:

• current and planned storage capacity
• location
• status of planning permission

If your project is identified as high priority for round 1, the RPA will invite you to submit a full application.

Stage 2: make a full application

Stage 2: make a full application

You will need to complete the application form and send it with your supporting documents to RPA.

You’ll also need to produce a project plan including:

• details about the store design and location
• how you calculated the storage capacity needs
• confirmation that the store meets with storing slurry rules and build standard requirements

The RPA and the Environment Agency will check that your store meets the rules for storing slurry and grant requirements.

As part of your grant funding agreement, you’ll also need to

• maintain 6 months storage capacity for the duration of the agreement
• create and use a nutrient management plan

• Construction of dam walls
• Overflow/spillway
• Synthetic liner
• Abstraction point including pump
• Engineer fees for the project that will be incurred after a Grant Funding Agreement is signed (construction engineers only) – as long as these do not add up to more than 15% of the project’s total eligible costs
• Fencing for synthetically lined reservoir
• Filtration equipment – including sand or screen filters and UV treatment
• Irrigation pump(s) and controls
• Pipework to fill the reservoir
• Pumphouse
• Underground water distribution main and hydrants
• Electricity installation for pumphouse
• Water meter
• Water storage tanks (for storing water for irrigation of crops)

• Boom
• Trickle
• Ebb and flow
• Capillary bed
• Sprinklers
• Mist

• Software to monitor soil moisture levels and schedule irrigation
• Software and sensors to optimise water application

Grant pay-out: £35,000 – £500,000

Tranche 1 Full application submitted by: 30 September 2022

Tranche 2 Full application submitted by: 30 November 2022

For the purposes of this scheme robotics is defined as autonomous equipment which performs all 4 of the following functions in a continuous loop:

• 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/process it has decided needs to be done (including controlling of actuators which may or may not be part of the eligible project costs).

The list of eligible items is as follows:

• robotic harvesting equipment
• robotic weeding equipment
• robotic spraying equipment
• autonomous driverless tractors or platforms
• voluntary robotic milking system
• robotic feeding systems
• robotic transplanting
• advanced ventilation control units
• wavelength specific LED lighting for horticultural crops.

Other autonomous robotic technology that is not included in the list above will also be considered. For this equipment to be considered eligible it needs to have all the following:

• a sensing system
• ability to understand its environment
• decision making capability to plan
• control actuators (the devices that move robot joints).

– Aim to Reduce environmental impacts

– robotic equipment that uses an electric or renewable energy source will be prioritised over fossil fuel powered equipment. Biofuels are considered as renewable energy under this scheme.

– Adequate monitoring and maintenance agreements for any grant funded items is required to cover the 5-year period of any potential grant funding agreement. 

– Equipment that does not have a lifespan of 5 years or more would be ineligible under this scheme.

What Is this?

• Equipment which lowers the pH value of slurry using acid treatment to stabilise the ammonia, thus increasing the availability of nutrients for plants, and reducing ammonia emissions.

System eligibility requirements:

• acid storage
• dosing equipment
• mixing tank
• pump.

Installation and commissioning of the above equipment is eligible. The cost of installing pipes and pumps necessary for the system to operate are also eligible.

The following equipment is only eligible under this scheme if it is purchased alongside mild acidification equipment as detailed above:

• shallow injection
• trailing shoe
• dribble bar
• real time inline nutrient analysis of slurry.

• Installation and commissioning of the above items is eligible.
• Alterations to the electrical supply within the holding to accommodate the installation of the equipment is eligible. For example, additional wiring from the distribution board.
• Upgrade of electricity supply to the holding is eligible (as long as this doesn’t add up to more than 10% of the project’s total eligible costs). However, the eligible cost must be related to the project that will 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 an electric charging point is eligible for electric powered mobile robotic equipment only.

Grant pay-out: £35,000 – £500,000

Submit full application by: 14 September 2022