Boost Eligibility Potential for Grant Funding with Veterinary Advice

Farmers in England can boost their chance of receiving 50% grant funding on a range of animal health and welfare equipment by discussing their application with their vet.

MILTON KEYNES, U.K., Thursday 14^th March 2024 – MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (NYSE:MRK), today announced that farmers in England who wish to apply for grant funding on a range of animal health and welfare equipment can improve their application scores by submitting evidence that their claim has been discussed with their veterinary surgeon.

Details of the Rural Payment Agency’s latest round of Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FEFT) grants has recently been announced in England, with funding available to help farmers buy a range of items that improve productivity, manage slurry and improve animal health and welfare.

The application window for productivity and slurry management items is already open (the current window runs from 6 March to 17 April 2024), with the application dates for animal health and welfare items due to be published shortly.

“What we know at this stage is that applications for equipment which fall within the animal health and welfare category can be boosted where evidence can be provided that the claim has been discussed with the farm’s vet,” explains Samantha Carmichael, Senior Technology Solutions Marketing Manager for MSD Animal Health’s Ruminant Business Unit.

For example, application scores for funding on items such as the Alligator PRO range of mobile sheep handling systems (FETF69), the Allflex range of EID stick readers (FEFT82SH and FEFT82CA) and MSD Animal Health’s SenseHub health and welfare remote monitoring system (FEFT315CA) and cattle automatic ID shedding gate (FEFT66) will be increased by 20 percent if it can be shown that the farm’s vet has advised the use of these items.

“With the window for applications due to be announced imminently, any farmers intending to apply for a grant should speak to their vet as soon as possible to ensure they have the necessary documentation in place to ensure their application for funding goes as smoothly as possible.”

For more information about the latest round of FEFT funding visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-2024