H&H Land & Estates Chartered Surveyor & Environment Advisor, Nick Mullins, welcomes the new funding but believes the farming industry may have some reservations.

DEFRA has announced that thousands of farmers will benefit from £150 million in new funding as the government opens a new round of its Capital Grants offer, supporting the twin aims of sustainable food production and environmental improvement.

The Capital Grants will be available to fund a wide range of on-farm projects, from hedge restoration and flood prevention to improved water management, helping farmers boost profitability while protecting the environment.

Farmers and land managers can apply for a total of 78 items, ranging from supporting natural flood management projects to improving water quality on farms under this new round of the Capital Grants offer. Four new items have been added including assessing woodland condition, creating wildfire management plans, repairing drystone walls, and hosting educational visits.  

Changes are also being introduced to ensure that more farm businesses can access these by setting funding limits that maximise the number of farms benefiting, while enabling Defra to manage budgets more effectively. This includes funding limits to four of the six groups of capital items in this Capital Grants offer. An application can include items from each of the six groups. The funding limit for four of the groups is:  

• £25,000 maximum for each of the following three groups: water quality, air quality, and natural flood management
• £35,000 maximum for the group covering boundaries, trees, and orchards

DEFRA insists it will also listen to feedback from farmers and use it to improve the offer ahead of the next round, planned for 2026, but Nick Mullins says the new funding will be welcomed by farmers with serious reservations over delivery:

"It's great to see the Capital Grants scheme is now open for applications and providing much-needed capital investment support for farmers. However, this still doesn't restore the industry's trust in this Government. Many farmers feel they have been let down by DEFRA's bad communication, lack of efficiency and poor preparation, and although we all appreciate we can't spend more than the budget, effective planning should have meant we didn't reach a cliff edge last year when the grants suddenly closed. Hopefully the Government have better planning in place, so we don't repeat that fiasco. Time will tell."

The new funding will help farmers ensure that habitats are restored, rivers protected, animal welfare improved and water quality enhanced and will also boost farm productivity enabling better food security for the nation. But Nick Mullins doubts they go far enough, and that applications will be dealt with fast enough.

"While it's obviously positive to see these long-awaited Capital Grants finally open, and earlier than expected given the government's slightly relaxed understanding of the seasons, this only goes some way to provide farmers with adequate support. We also hope the RPA will process applications promptly so that the benefits can be felt by farms and the environment at the earliest opportunity.

 "One big concern is the capacity Natural England have to process the items that need endorsing. In previous years we've been at the mercy of stretched small teams with limited capacity. This means additional delays – potentially months – waiting for the endorsement to be given before the applications can be submitted. 

"Further delays are not what farmers want, especially with the uncertainty of future schemes such as the SFI and the expansion of Higher Tier schemes, again restricted by Natural England's capacity."

Now is the time to think carefully about which options could benefit your farm. The opportunity for improved boundaries and yards is now available but the budget is limit, so now is the time to apply.

H&H Land & Estates provide expert professional support for farmers and landowners through the application process for government schemes and the new round of Capital Grants funding. For any enquiries, please contact 01228 406260.