Defra has announced a further £10 million infrastructure grant pot to cattle farmers in England to help them replace ageing cattle buildings with state-of-the-art facilities.
As set out in more detail in the guidance, the Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure Grant will allocate awards to farmers ranging from £15,000 to £500,000, prioritising new and upgraded calf housing which will improve conditions for livestock and help to boost farmers’ productivity and profitability.
Through this grant, cattle farmers will also be able to access funding for roof-top solar panels on calf housing buildings, fulfilling a key commitment made by the Prime Minister at the Farm to Fork Summit earlier this year. This will enable farmers to improve the thermal insulation of their building whilst providing low-cost energy for calf housing.
The government has also announced that more than £19 million has been awarded to over 3,000 pig, poultry, sheep and cattle farmers who successfully applied to the first round of the Animal Health and Welfare Equipment and Technology Grant. These grants, of between £1,000 and £25,000, will help farmers with items ranging from livestock handling equipment to reduce lameness in sheep or cattle or sealed water tanks to reduce disease transmission in outdoor pigs, to automated monitoring system and sensors which free-up farmers’ time and limit environmental stress in poultry housing.
Both grants form part of the government’s wider Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which supports farmers to transition to higher welfare practices and systems, whilst encouraging sustainable food production.
The Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure Grant will prioritise co-funding new and upgraded calf housing in order to promote better social contact and create a healthier environment for livestock. Successful applicants could receive funding for a variety of building types – for example, the construction of A-frame buildings to house dairy calves from birth to weaning, or a mono-pitch building on a beef unit to house calves between 3-6 months. This new funding pot further expands the range of grants already on offer through the Farming Transformation Fund, which currently includes support for improvements to slurry, water management and productivity. Defra will be extending this infrastructure grant to other livestock sectors, with forthcoming funding available for pig and poultry farmers.
You can find out how to apply for the grants to improve calf housing here.
