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Written question asked by Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 21 February 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 25 February 2025. It was answered by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Monday, 3 March 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farms: West Dorset

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the distribution of cost-effective technological innovations to the farming community in West Dorset.

Answer

We are committed to supporting technological innovation on farm so all farming sectors can maximise their levels of productivity whilst increasing their sustainability and resilience.

As announced at the NFU Conference, the next window of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) will launch in Spring 2025. This will support uptake of innovative technology and equipment that is commercially available. The scheme will be open to farmers across England and a list of eligible equipment will be published within the scheme guidance ahead of its launch.

The Farming Innovation Programme funds research across a range of technologies in agriculture including precision agriculture. Almost £150 million has been committed to projects of which over £84 million has been committed to small businesses. From later in the year a further £63 million will be available in innovation grants under the Programme to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers.

We are looking carefully at how to position further investment and support to enable the delivery of this Government's objectives as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
32857
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Farms Innovation Food Production Technology West Dorset
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk