Farmers received over £70m to help battle slurry pollution

This week the second round of Defra’s Slurry Infrastructure Grant has been launched with £74m being made available to tackle water and air pollution.

On 21^st November the government announced that applications are now open for the second round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant which forms part of the £200m being invested in infrastructure and equipment to tackle agricultural pollution from slurry – a semi-liquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal suspended in water.

This second round has more than double the funding on offer to help meet increased demand. Under the scheme, farmers can apply for grants of between £25,000 to £250,000 to cover slurry stores and fund equipment such as separators, reception pits and agitators.

One of the reasons farmers need new equipment is that when slurry is spread when there is no crops or soil requirement – this is often down to insufficient storage – it can cause pollution in rivers and waterways, as well as wasting valuable resources and increasing costs for farmers.

Open slurry stores and broadcast spreading also releases large amounts of ammonia which harms vulnerable species and damages human health.

Farming minister, Mark Spencer, said: ‘We’re indebted to farmers who work day in day out to ensure we have great British food on our tables while protecting and shaping our countryside.

‘It is vital that they are supported to make the environmental improvements I know so many want to make. Our Slurry Infrastructure Grant is helping farmers to invest in infrastructure which is often costly but can deliver big benefits for our waterways and air quality, while also cutting their input costs.’

News of the new grant has come ahead of the launch of two further rounds of Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in early 2024 and 2025, which will offer £21m for smaller items of equipment to help farmers manage slurry, from nutrient testing kits to low emission spreaders.

Image: Jinen Shah

More on farming pollution:

English farmers in line for grants to tackle slurry air pollution

How air pollution affects food production and how we can fix it