How to spend your FETF funding on Sumo equipment before the claim deadline

If you applied for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund this year, the waiting is starting to end. The Rural Payments Agency began sending out Grant Funding Agreements (GFAs) in late June, with roughly 7,000 going out in the first wave across the three FETF 2026 themes: Productivity, Slurry Management, and Animal Health and Welfare. More are being issued over the coming weeks.

If you're one of them, the clock is now running. Here's what matters and what to do next.

Check your inbox - and your junk folder

GFAs for FETF 2026 come from a specific address: no-reply@rpagrants.org.uk. It's easy for that to land in spam, so check there first if you were expecting one and haven't seen it.

A few things worth knowing about the agreement itself:

  • You can't buy anything against your grant before the GFA arrives, unless you're putting down a refundable deposit to hold your place in a supplier's order queue.
  • Read the deadline for accepting your GFA carefully - it's set out in the agreement, and missing it forfeits the funding.
  • If your business structure or SBI has changed recently, RPA may need to review eligibility before funds are released, so flag anything like that early rather than letting it surface at claim stage.

The deadline that actually matters: 20 January 2027

Approval isn't the finish line. Once you've accepted a GFA, you need to have bought and received the equipment, then submit your claim, by midday on 20 January 2027. Each GFA needs its own separate claim, and RPA pays out in full once - no partial claims.

That date is closer than it looks once you factor in lead times. Direct drills and cultivation equipment are being ordered in volume right now by everyone who just got approved, and RPA itself has flagged that demand is high enough to cause delays. If you're planning to fund a machine through this scheme, the order needs to go in now, not in October.

What's eligible under Productivity

Direct drills and precision cultivation equipment sit under the Productivity theme, alongside kit like GPS guidance systems and mechanical weeders. As a Sumo dealer, we can talk you through which current models and specifications qualify - the eligible items list is reviewed each year, and last year's spec sheet isn't a safe guide to this year's, so we'll check your intended purchase against the live list rather than assume.

That's true across the range: direct drills, subsoilers, seeders, and residue management tools have all qualified in past FETF rounds depending on spec - but "depending on spec" is doing real work in that sentence, so confirm before you order.

If you didn't apply this year

FETF 2026 applications are closed, but it's not the only route to funded machinery. The Sustainable Farming Incentive continues to reward soil health and cultivation practices that Sumo equipment is built around, and it's worth a look if you're planning ahead for next year's funding cycle rather than this one.

Already got your GFA? Talk to us before you order

If you're holding an approved GFA and working out what to buy before January, get in touch with the Agri-Linc team. We hold Sumo stock, we can talk through lead times honestly rather than optimistically, and we can help make sure whatever you order actually matches what's on your agreement before you commit funds.

Contact Agri-Linc | View Sumo Equipment | View Sumo Website