The Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure grant

Earlier this week the Rural Payments Agency released details of The Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure grant.

Our clients and the wider agricultural community may be interested in this grant, even though it isn’t open to applications until later this summer – since the potential grants are significant, focused in a key area and there haven’t been many grants for agricultural buildings before.

An overview of the Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure grant

Key aspects, include:

Grant size	Between £15,000 and £500,000
Projects – general	Providing animals with improved health and welfare through large infrastructure projects
Projects – initial focus	Despite the grant initially being available for cattle owners to co-fund new and upgraded calf housing, the grant could be used for: An A-frame building for dairy calves from birth to weaning or a mono-pitch building on a beef unit to house calves between 3-6 months. A permanent open-sided structure with igloos/hutches and other types of calf housing can also be funded Adapting calf housing for extreme weather conditions and climate change Solar panels
Projects – future	In time, the offer will be extended to include grants for adult cattle, pig and poultry housing

More details on Calf Housing for Health and Welfare 2023

Who can apply	You can apply for a grant if You’re currently a cattle farmer living in England. The grant must be used for building or upgrading buildings in England You either own the land you’re building on or have a tenancy agreement for the land until five years after the project is complete. However, you can apply if your current agreement will end sooner than five years after the project, if you expect it to continue.
Vet consultation required	To apply, you need to discuss your project with a vet and include a letter of confirmation with your full application. One option is to apply for an Annual Health and Welfare Review
Grant/ Grant intervention rates	Grant intervention rates are limited to 40% of eligible costs of a project. (Note: The scheme will only cover 25% of eligible costs for rooftop solar PV panels.)
Grant specifications	Grant specifications can be found here.

Making an application

Application guidance for The Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure grant can be found here. The application is a three stage process, starting with an online checker and an ambient environment assessment. This is prior to the full application.

How can we help?

Our Agricultural team act for clients range across the whole sector, including horticultural producers, dairy, livestock and arable farms. To find out more about how our team can help or get in touch, click here.