FETF 2026

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) will open on 17th March for six weeks, closing on 28th April 2026.  The Fund provides grant towards the cost of specific capital items from approved lists which fall under three themes;

•  farm productivity
•  animal health and welfare
•  slurry management

Under this Round 290 items are eligible for funding.  Grants range from £1,000 to £25,000 per theme.  It is possible to apply for items under more than one theme, up to a combined maximum of £75,000.  The scheme is competitive, each item is given a score, not all applications will receive funding, those that are successful and receive an Agreement will receive a percentage of the cost of each item.  The exact amount depends on the item(s) chosen.  Details on the items available, scoring and the grant amount can all be found in the Guidance which is available via https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026/apply-for-the-farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026 .

There have been some changes to this Round, including some new items and the removal of others.  In addition, the vet advice and new entrants score uplift has been removed.  Furthermore, the option to use a separate correspondence address in the Farming Investment Fund (FIF) Service has been removed.  The contact details must now match those registered in the Rural Payments service.

Themes

In total £50m in funding will be available spread across the three themes;

• Farm Productivity:  £20m is available via 70 productivity items.  New items have been added this year.  All the items can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026/productivity-items-and-specifications-farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026.  Applications for productivity items are scored, based on the extent to which they improve productivity, deliver environmental benefits, and how widely the items are used across the industry.
• Animal Health and Welfare:  £20m available to commercial farmers who keep pigs, sheep, dairy cows, beef cattle, laying hens or broilers.  There are over 100 animal health and welfare items available in this round.  There have only been minor changes this year.  The full list of items and specifications can be found in the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026/animal-health-and-welfare-items-and-specifications-farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026 .
• Slurry Management – £10m is available to improve how farmers collect, store, test and apply slurry.  There are 17 slurry management items available in this round.  The full list of items and specifications can be found in the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026/slurry-items-and-specifications-farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2026.  Applications are scored according to how they meet the scheme’s objectives.

Defra will be hosting a webinar on Thursday 12th March at 10am to give more details on this Round.  Those wanting to attend can sign-up via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-2026-tickets-1983241243948?aff=oddtdtcreator .

It had been announced that there were to be no more rounds of the FETF so it is a (nice) surprise that it will be available in 2026.  However, Defra has said ‘this will be the final standalone round of FETF in its current form.  We intend to bring together the strongest elements of our grant schemes from 2027 to simplify the application process and target funding more effectively’.

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