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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that financing is available to farmers who wish to invest in sustainable energy projects.

The Farming Investment Fund has supported renewable energy projects through its grants for rooftop solar. In our recent Improving Farm Productivity grant, farmers and horticultural businesses in England were able to apply for capital grants towards solar equipment to increase energy resilience and the take-up of renewable energy generation on their farms. Grants of between £15,000 and £100,000 were available at an intervention rate of 25%. This scheme has now closed for new applications. We will continue to consider how to support farmers to invest in renewable energy projects in the future.