DEFRA confirms £200 million funding for Rural Development Programme

DEFRA has confirmed that £200 million will be made available for schemes under the Rural Development Programme. The funding will be delivered via the Growth Programme and the Countryside Productivity Scheme and will be broken down as follows:-

- £30m to improve rural broadband
- £45m to help rural businesses grow and invest in new equipment; and
- £120m for projects that improve farm productivity

The first round of applications should open from today for funding towards reservoirs and forestry equipment. Funding for broadband, rural business support, on-farm food processing, arable and horticultural productivity and resource efficiency should be made available later in 2017. Please see the GOV.UK website for further information.