Animal Health and Welfare grants scheme
engagement request

The Animal Welfare Small Grants team are seeking input on the grants which will be offered as part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

Defra plan to launch small and large grants schemes focused on animal health and welfare later this year.

Through the pathway, they are aiming to focus on an initial set of health and welfare priorities which will enable them to deliver gradual, continual improvement across the six main livestock sectors in England: meat chickens, laying hens, pigs, sheep, dairy cattle and beef cattle.

Defra announced that they will publish a Progress Update which will provide information on the various arms of the Pathway and the mentioned priorities.

They have asked organisations including OF&G to help the Transforming Farm Animal Health & Welfare team seek the views and experience of farmers to help in Defra's ambition for a co-design approach.

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As Direct Payments decline, Defra will be reinvesting some of the money to support the production of healthier, higher welfare animals.

These financial schemes will provide incentives for farmers to go above the regulatory baseline and reward higher animal health and welfare on farm.

As part of this, Defra will be launching Animal Health and Welfare grants later this year which will be offering small grants focused on a list of equipment and technology items.

Defra is giving farmers the opportunity to influence the items that they offer small grants for, and also to share ideas around larger grants for bespoke infrastructure based projects.

To contribute your suggestions, please click the relevant link to access the questionnaire.
The questionnaire will close on Tuesday 22nd March.

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Links to each questionnaire where the team also outline what they're looking for and what information it would be useful to have to hand:

• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/pigs
• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/sheep
• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/dairycattle
• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/beefcattle
• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/meatchicken
• Animal-welfare-small-grants-team/layinghens

If farmers have any questions, the contact email address is: FFAHWcodesign@defra.gov.uk

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The following is from Defra's policy paper on the AHW: Policy paper Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

The Review will:

• offer farmers funding for an annual visit from a vet of their choice to consider the health and welfare of their animals. This includes carrying out diagnostic testing, reviewing biosecurity and the use of medicines, and provide bespoke advice on actions and available support to improve the health and welfare of their animals
• add value to existing practices and assurance scheme requirements and build upon the strong relationships that already exist between farmers and vets

The Review is initially for cattle, sheep and pig farmers who are eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and who have more than 10 cattle, 20 sheep or 50 pigs.

We aim to make the Review available to farmers not currently participating in the BPS as soon as possible.

Our intent is that this is a time limited offer for 3 years. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the Review and consult on the need for further regulation beyond this timeframe.