Jacob Rees Mogg MP writes:

£305,878 has recently been awarded to farmers and foresters in North East Somerset as part of the Government's Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.

The aim of the Fund is to help growers in North East Somerset boost farm productivity and reduce waste and cut input costs in tandem with increasing environmental sustainability and improving slurry management. 

Through the fund, the Government is offering money for over ninety pieces of equipment that will support food security by, for example, reducing the spread of pests and diseases and managing valuable nutrients on farm. Previous successful applications have included: rainwater harvesting tanks to improve water security for farmers in the summer; tree shears to help stop the spread of pests and diseases and equipment to minimise grass contamination and ammonia emissions when spreading slurry. 

The budget has been increased to £31 million in response to farmers demand from the original budget of £17 million. This means more than 3,000 farmers and contractors are set to receive grants and the fund forms part of the Government's manifesto commitment to give £2.4 billion per year to farming for the rest of this Parliament. In 2023 alone, at least £168 million of taxpayers' money is being made available to increase farming productivity through sixteen different grants and competitions themed around productivity, research and innovation.  

The Department plans to offer further rounds of funding alongside larger grants to support further investment in water storage and improving irrigation slurry infrastructure as well as investment in automation and robotics. This sits alongside its Environmental Land Management schemes where payments for over 200 actions are currently available to farmers across the country. 

It is important that anyone who thinks they might be eligible for assistance investigates what is on offer:

https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/02/grants-available-in-2023/