Defra secretary Owen Paterson is due to announce a further £19 million funding for farm businesses in England, to be made available under the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS).

Rural business will be able to apply for grants from the £19m pot in one of five funding areas of animal health and welfare, energy efficiency, nutrient management, water resource management and forestry. This is the fourth round of funding under FFIS since the scheme was launched in 2011 by former farming minister Jim Paice.

FFIS is part of Defra's Rural Development Programme for England, funded by the government's CAP allocation; the scheme aims to make farm and forestry businesses more efficient and reduce the sector's impact on the environment.

During the last round of funding, Defra received over 2,700 applications for projects from its £26m FFIS pot, which the department described as an "unprecedented" amount of interest.

Paterson is set to make an announcement on the funding process during his speech at the Great Yorkshire Show later today. He said this round of funding will target small farm businesses in particular.  

Yesterday, Devon landowner and Tory peer Lord Arran warned that all major political parties risk "squandering" rural England's potential. Lord Arran said that key policies of all parties have a clear urban bias, and all three have failed to tackle the problems rural regions face, including unaffordable housing, poor telecommunications and an under investment in state-of-the-art farming.