£300,000 paid out to host farm visits

A total of just over £300,000 has been paid out in the last four years by DAERA to farmers who host Technology Demonstration Farm (TDF) visits.

As part of the scheme, each participating farm was expected to host at least eight visits per year, with a maximum of 25 people per group. For each visit, the host farmer receives a payment of £600. At present, there are 38 TDF’s listed on the CAFRE website.

An analysis of the data shows that only a small cohort of farms have managed to get close to expected targets.

Over the last four years, the top five participants (two beef, two dairy and one sheep) have hosted a total of between 28 and 32 visits, receiving payments from DAERA ranging from £17,400 to £19,200.

There are nine participating farms who have received over £10,000 from the scheme over that period.

In the last four years, the number of TDF farm visits peaked in 2021-2002 at 196 and they have been gradually going down each year since then.

An equal number of visits (176) have taken place to beef and dairy farms, followed by sheep farms with 81 visits and those demonstrating environmental-type issues with 35 visits. In total, there have been 502 visits in the last four years.

The farms demonstrate technologies across a wide range of themes, including grassland management, animal genetics, feed efficiency and improved fertility.

In October 2024, DAERA confirmed that the scheme would be extended for a further year.