Scottish farmers and crofters! The Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) is opening its application window from July 14 – August 22, 2025. This competitive capital grant scheme offers upfront funding to help you make key on-farm investments that boost environmental performance and business sustainability.
FFIS aims to help you:
Improve efficiency and sustainability
Protect or enhance the environment
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Mitigate climate change effects
Crucially, FFIS supports capital investments that deliver these objectives.
Shepherdsmate: Your Partner for FFIS-Eligible Solutions!
Many of the grant-eligible items under FFIS align perfectly with the innovative solutions we offer at Shepherdsmate.
The £14 million budget is competitive, so start planning now! Let Shepherdsmate help you identify the perfect, grant-eligible investments for your farm.
What the grants are for
We are offering you the opportunity to choose the most appropriate on farm/croft capital investment for your agricultural business if the capital investment delivers on at least one of the following scheme objectives and the investment is eligible:
- improve business efficiency and sustainability;
- protect, restore or enhance the environment and/or
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or
- mitigate the effect of climate change.
Please Remember:
- only apply for the amount of support your business needs to carry out the investment to allow more farmers and crofters to benefit from this scheme.
- only brand new items are eligible.
- only investments made after the acceptance of the grant offer are eligible.
- only items purchased through a supplier or manufacturer are eligible.
- only investments purchased by the business or the person named on the Offer of Grant are eligible.
- investments must be carried out and evidence provided to SGRPID within nine months of being made the Offer of Grant.
You will find examples of the type of investments that will be eligible for support through this scheme at the examples of eligible investments section of this guidance.
You will find the type of investments and expenditure that are not eligible for support through this scheme at the ineligible investments and expenditure section of this guidance.
How much money can you apply for
The maximum level of support you will be entitled to apply for will be based on the total area of eligible agricultural land (excluding common grazing shares) that you declared on your Single Application Form on the 15th of May as shown in the table below. There is no minimum amount of support that you can apply for.
Any previous participation in the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) or Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS) will not affect your ability to apply for the maximum grant.
| Farm/croft size | Maximum that can be applied for |
|---|---|
| 30 hectares or less | £5,000.00 |
| Between 30.01-150 hectares | £10,000.00 |
| Greater than 150 hectares | £20,000.00 |
Only one application is allowed per agricultural business/Business Reference Number (BRN) per funding round. You can include multiple investments in the application.
As the budget for this scheme is limited and to ensure as many farmers and crofters can benefit from it, you should only apply for the amount of support you need to allow you to carry out your investment.
Please Be Aware: You will be required to provide evidence of investment expenditure within nine months of being made the Offer of Grant and if the eligible expenditure is less than the award made, you do not buy all of the investments you applied for or you fail to provide satisfactory evidence you will be required to repay either the full grant or the difference with interest.
If you are required to pay all or some of the grant payment made to you, but fail to do so, we will recover any amount owed from any support schemes you claim (BPS, LFASS, VCS etc.) until any repayments for this scheme have been made.
You are eligible to apply if:
- you are a farmer or crofter;
- your agricultural business meets the legal definition of a “farmer” that undertakes an “agricultural activity” as defined in Annex H;
- your agricultural business is registered and approved for funding with SGRPID (new businesses can submit a FFIS application before their business has been approved, however an Offer of Grant will not be made until eligibility for funding has been approved by SGRPID);
- your agricultural business submitted a Single Application Form (SAF) ) to claim funding by 15th of May (i.e. didn’t submit a SAF to only tell us about your land);
- the total area of eligible agricultural land (excluding common grazing shares); declared on your SAF on the 15th of May was greater than 3 hectares;
- if you claimed BPS, and your agricultural business declared at least two of the Whole Farm Plan audits and plans on your SAF on the 15th of May and
- if you did not claim BPS, but are claiming under other support schemes where WFP compliance was not a requirement you can still apply and if your application is successful, you must have least two of the Whole Farm Plan audits and plans by the time you submit your evidence of carrying out your investment
You are not eligible if you:
- are a non departmental public bodies;
- are a local Authority;
- are a crown body;
- are a group of farmers or crofters (including producer organisations/common grazing committee);
- let all your land out;
- are an equine business (including grazing horses);
- are an agricultural contractor or
- are an agricultural business that provided false or misleading information in a capital grant application/claim within the last five years.
Please Be Aware: Crofters cannot apply for FFIS support for the same type of investment that has already been approved but not yet claimed through CAGS or apply for CAGS support for the same type of investment that has been approved for FFIS funding in 2025.
Ready to make these crucial investments? Visit Rural Payments Scotland for full details on the Future Farming Investment Scheme and start planning your application today.
Important Information Regarding the Scottish Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS)
The details provided on this page concerning the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) are for general guidance and informational purposes only. While Shepherdsmate aims to offer helpful insights into how our products can align with FFIS objectives, we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the scheme information presented.
The official eligibility criteria, application procedures, and grant amounts for FFIS are determined solely by the Scottish Government. These terms are subject to change at their discretion.
Shepherdsmate strongly advises all interested farmers and crofters to refer directly to the official Rural Payments Scotland website for the most current and precise information on the FFIS grants. This includes detailed eligibility requirements, application deadlines, a comprehensive list of eligible items and the exact grant amounts available.
