SPF Agri-Support & Innovation

Districts have been given the opportunity by the County Combined Authority (CCA), to extend Shared Prosperity Funded (SPF) projects for another year. West Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Mid Devon & East Devon have all committed funding to supporting farmers with Business & Innovation support. This will be a combination of the highly successful support delivered to farm businesses through the Future Farm Resilience Programme (FFR), which ended in March 2025, and the SPF Agri-Innovation Programme delivered in South Hams & West Devon in 2024/25. The Agri-Innovation element comprises the majority of the work, with a unique customer journey, methods of engagement and interaction which farmers already trust, the Farm Innovation Toolkit (developed by DCC & partners), and knowledge exchange via a close partnership between DCC staff and the Suppliers Agri-advisors. 50 farm businesses will be supported through Agri-Innovation (up to 15 hours of support) across West Devon, South Hams & Teignbridge and 30 farm businesses will receive Agri-Support (between 3 & 12 hours) across Mid Devon, East Devon & Teignbridge, in addition to events. There is a set amount of funding to deliver this based on previous delivery costs. Each area has its own budget and specific output and outcomes to be achieved.

SPF funding must be spent by 31st March 2026, so there is less than one year to deliver this programme, with exact project dates depending on when the funding is confirmed. It is unlikely that the project will be mobilised before end May 2025. Mobilisation will take at least a month and delivery needs to get underway as soon as possible and crucially start engaging farmers before their busy summer season. The districts are very keen that the programmes continue exactly as they have been run previously and that there is a minimal gap between the old & new programmes.