The Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) was pleased to welcome Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Dame Angela Eagle, to its annual conference at One Great George Street, London on Tuesday 14 April. During her address, the Minister recognised the importance of the Agri-tech sector in providing the tools to allow farmers and growers to be productive, profitable and resilient. That was reinforced by the inclusion of Agri-tech as a priority sub-sector within Advanced Manufacturing in the government's Industrial Strategy.

This meant the industry could access extra support from across government and Defra was backing Agri-tech through a £70 million investment in its Farming Innovation Programme. Within this, Dame Angela used her speech to the AEA to announce a new £5 million round of Defra's Farming Innovation Investor Partnerships competition, opening next month. 

Dame Angela said, "This is our 'blended' finance initiative which is proving highly effective at drawing in new private and venture capital into the Agri-Tech Sector to amplify the impact and the benefits of Government investment. I can also announce today that our previous Investor Partnerships round raised more than £40 million of private investment through twelve award offers. That is £40 million of additional, private investment that will help those companies to scale-up production, generate jobs and growth, and ensure this cutting-edge technology reaches more farmers and growers."

The Minister also confirmed that £30 million would be made available to support new rounds of ADOPT grants, supporting farmers to test new technology. Defra would also be helping farmers to share examples of best practice through its new Farmer Collaboration Fund.

AEA Director General, Ruth Bailey, commented, "We were delighted to welcome Dame Angela to our annual conference. It is good to hear that the government is committed to supporting the Agri-tech industry. The equipment that AEA members provide can play a major role, not just in improving the productivity of farming but also ensuring it is done sustainably. We look forward to working with the Minister and her officials to ensure that the benefits of the latest innovations can make real a difference on the ground."