Produce growers are being offered grants of up to £300,000.

Funding grants of up to £300,000 will be made available to farmers to help them boost their businesses and add extra value to their produce, Environment Secretary, George Eustice has announced today.

£30million from the Farming Investment Fund (FIF) will enable farmers in England to purchase equipment to process, diversify and add value to their products after they have been harvested or reared.

This could include premises and equipment for the preparation or processing of agricultural produce, for example turning milk into cheese or yoghurt, processing meat into sausages and potatoes into crisps or chips.

It also includes equipment such as vending machines and display facilities for selling food direct to customers.

The funding will be offered in sums between £25,000 and £300,000.

Mr Eustice said: “We want to support the choices that farmers make for their businesses.

"We are spending around £600 million on farm-based innovation over the next three years, and the money announced today will support farmers across England with their investment plans, to improve their profitability and productivity.”

It is also being announced today that the first round of new Slurry Infrastructure grants, worth £13 million, will open later this autumn.

These new grants will help livestock farmers in England to upgrade their slurry storage and nutrient management systems and, in so doing, help reducing water and air pollution from slurry.

READ MORE: Farmers urged to take advantage of slurry grants

Guidance for applicants is available on GOV.UK.

Eligible capital items for produce farmers include:

• equipment for preparing or processing edible agricultural products for added value sales

• equipment for ‘second stage’ processing of grain - for example, colour sorting, blending

• equipment for processing non-edible agricultural products into new products (for example, flax, hemp, wool, hides, and skins)

• equipment for retailing eligible agricultural products (for example, vending machines or display facilities)

• premises for the preparation or processing of added value agricultural products, including associated integral storage areas.

You can apply for a grant if you are:

• a grower or other producer of agricultural products (by which we mean you carry on an agricultural or horticultural activity, including rearing livestock)

• a business processing agricultural or horticultural products which is at least 50 per cent owned by agricultural or horticultural producers