Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) grants and (b) subsidies available to farmers for (i) adopting new technologies and (ii) improving farm infrastructure.

Within the Farming Innovation Programme Defra has supported over 260 projects with over £130 million of Government investment awarded in contracts.

Within the Farming Investment Fund schemes Defra has paid out over £164 million to date in capital grants to support farmers and horticultural businesses to invest in infrastructure and equipment.

Regarding future capital grant support, Defra is currently assessing next year’s (2025) Capital Grants offer and will provide an update in early 2025.

We plan to simplify and rationalise our grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and nature. We will confirm any future grant rounds in due course.