Funding for livestock farmers to improve animal health and welfare

A further £10 million is being made available to cattle farmers in England to help them replace ageing cattle buildings with state-of-the-art facilities, Defra has announced.

As set out in guidance published last week, 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 livestock conditions and help boost farmers’ productivity and profitability.

Through this grant, cattle farmers can 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 buildings 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 systems and sensors which free up farmers’ time and limit environmental stress in poultry housing. See: Calf Housing for Health and Welfare 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)