Our Farms – Discussion Group Projects

Are you part of a discussion group that wishes to collaborate on a short-term co designed on-farm trial?

Farming Connects discussion group projects offer an opportunity for discussion groups to work collectively on on-farm trials that are of a particular interest to them and to the wider agriculture sector in Wales through aligning with the Suitable Land Management framework and the Sustainable Farming Scheme. 

How to get involved 

Closing date for applications is midnight Monday 3 August 2026.   

What’s on offer? 

This is an exciting opportunity to support your short-term trial idea, with up to £12,000 (excluding VAT) available per Discussion Group Project.

There are specific eligibility and funding criteria outlining what can and cannot be supported. Full details can be found under What can the funding be used for?

Who can apply? 

Any Discussion Groups across Wales, covering all sectors, themes, and topics. To be eligible, the Discussion Group Project must:

• Have a minimum of 5 farmers participating in the trial
• All participants must have re-registered with Farming Connect via RPW online prior to the application being submitted
• Non-Farming Connect discussion & Agrisgôp groups, must have been formed and have been meeting regularly (a minimum of 4 meetings per year) for over 12 months.  
• Have already secured other funding to continue with the regularly discussion group meetings (a minimum of 4 meetings during the project lifetime) at no extra cost to the Discussion Group Project.  

Please note that this opportunity is available for Farming Connect Discussion Groups and AgriSgôp Groups but also for non-Farming Connect Discussion Groups.  

Discussion Groups who previously received funding in the previous Farming Connect programme are eligible for funding.

If you are a lead consultant or facilitator for more than one Discussion Group / Agrisgôp Group, we welcome applications for projects involving more than one group focusing on the same theme/topic.  

There is no maximum number of members that can be involved across one or more discussion groups.

Why get involved?  

Former Our Farms Network Discussion Group Projects have provided support to farmers and growers to explore practical issues relevant to the group whilst focusing on addressing local challenges and/or opportunities and promoting collaboration and innovation.  

Here are a few examples of the benefits discussion group members saw from being part of previous Discussion Group Projects:  

Project 1: Control and prevention of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis

Whilst all farms involved in the project saw a benefit, one farm saw a reduction in mastitis incidence from over 100 cases per 100 cows in January 2024 to 40 cases per 100 cows in December 2024. If those figures were rolling this would be a decrease from 730 cases to 292 and at a cost of £314 per cases this is a potential annual saving of £137,532.  

Project 2: Liver fluke control on-farm – Test don’t guess

100% of the project farmers declared an improvement in their knowledge of fluke risk

areas specific to their farm. 90% will use the lateral flow test alongside this knowledge for future fluke control on their farm.

Project 3: On farm thoracic ultrasound project

 Across the study period, calves with abnormal lung lesion scores had lower growth rates on average by 0.17 kg/ day in comparison to calves with normal lung lesion scores. The project highlighted that thoracic ultrasound scanning can act as a useful tool to assess bovine respiratory disease on-farm, act as a management tool for selecting replacement heifers and support decisions with antimicrobial use.  

More details of the previous Discussion Group projects can be found here.  

What can the funding be used for?

Projects must align with at least one of the Sustainable Farming Scheme Universal actions and at least one of the Sustainable Land Management Outcomes to be eligible for funding.  

Eligible activities

• Specialist’s time (e.g. consultants or scientists) for setting up projects, taking measurements, collating data and writing reports
• Hire of essential specialist equipment to assist with running the project i.e. essential equipment required for data collection / analysis
• Communication and dissemination of project approaches, lessons and outcomes; inside and outside of the discussion group
• Technical advice - to ensure that the right activity is in the right place to have the best results
• Reporting on project milestones – activities to demonstrate the outcomes of the collaborative actions, by monitoring the impacts, ensuring a baseline assessment is in place before action is taken and measuring the subsequent changes

Eligible costs

• Contractor costs for labour and use of equipment
• Direct costs to carry out any specific physical trials necessary as part of the project. This can include hire of specialist equipment / facilities and funding for non-standard operations
• Consumables for undertaking trial or project activity (e.g. specialist seed, sampling pots, etc.)
• Reasonable analysis and sampling costs (e.g. forage, soil, blood and tissues)  

Ineligible costs

The participating farmers will be expected to provide items such as land, stock and also their time at no cost to the project.

The following items are examples of expenditure which are not eligible under the Discussion Group Project fund. This is not a definitive list, and all items of expenditure will be considered on a case-by-case basis:

• Specialist / Facilitator time for writing the application and organising and hosting on-going Discussion Group meetings
• Travel and subsistence costs for participating farmers
• For longer term investments in agricultural holdings i.e., the purchase of animals, land, buildings, rent
• Working capital or any financial loss incurred as a result of participating in the project
• Any expenditure incurred before the approved project start without prior written approval from Farming Connect
• Any costs not directly and solely related to the execution of the project
• Own labour and equipment costs
• Maintenance or repair costs
• Landscaping, ornamental work, and provision of amenities
• Contingencies
• Reclaimable vat
• Capital items (e.g. weighing scales, measuring equipment, analytical equipment, drones, vending machines, etc.,) - where possible items needed for the project will need to be hired.

Finance & payments

No match funding is required.  

Farming Connect will be responsible for the financial elements of the project. Claims will only be paid when Farming Connect is satisfied the relevant expenditure has taken place and that the work has been completed according to the plan, and a full report has been submitted. Payment will be made within 30 days of receiving an invoice with the required supporting reports etc, as agreed in the plan on awarding the project.

How to apply?

Completing the application form

The project/discussion group lead delivering the group should complete the application form however, all applications for the discussion group project fund should be agreed by the group members prior to submission – with identification details (full name, address, e-mail, CPH and CRN numbers) of all members participating in the project required in the application form.  

A Briefing Webinar will be held at 8:15 – 9:00am on the 8 of July 2026.