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Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund: Encouraging new techniques for the future, today

The principle of the Innovation Fund is to provide pump priming cash for new and innovative ideas. These could include home grown ideas from within the farm or technologies not currently used in the English pig industry from another sector or overseas. The innovation fund may also provide funding to quantify a new process on farm which may provide efficiency and savings in labour.

Having seen a new technology demonstrated by leading producers, the best ideas will be adopted quickly by other businesses in the industry. Ideas will come from a range of sources, UK and overseas and projects should benefit a significant number of pig producers in England.

To view the projects already funded click here

The initiative is intended to provide a strong incentive and catalyst to encourage investment, that will help the English pig industry regain its status as a world leader and to improve technical competence and cost competitiveness.

 “We believe this is the best way to spread new practices across the industry, helping people to look at things in a different light” said BPEX chairman Stewart Houston. “We want to promote innovation and there is still plenty of cash available.

 “This pump priming is for anybody who has a good idea, but does not have the cash to develop it. All they need to do is talk to their local BPEX Knowledge Transfer (KT) manager and then we will decide whether or not the idea has merit and should be taken forward. It is as simple as that and people can apply for these funds throughout the four deadlines per year” he said.

Applications for funding must include these 5 key areas:

  • Fit the BPEX Strategy – to focus on enhancing the competitiveness, efficiency and profitability for English pig levy payers and driving demand for English pork and pig meat products in Britain and globally.
  • Technical quality
  • Achievable
  • Value to the industry
  • Develop areas of expertise.

The successful projects would be used as a case study to spread the knowledge gained to other producers.

Ideas that have already won funding and have provided blueprints for the rest of the industry include:

  • Evaluation of water intake in grower/finisher pigs as a measure of sub-clinical disease and provide an early warning indicator of emerging disease - Click here to read more
  • Adapting and piloting an on-farm labour recording system to determine efficiency savings that can be gained through better allocation of paid labour - Click here to read more
  • Investigating the effect of increasing artificial light in naturally lit sow housing on seasonal infertility and demonstrating the benefits of investing in this area - Click here to read more
  • A piglet handling and vaccination system to eliminate handling of outdoor weaners during vaccination - Click here to read more

Individual applicants for Innovation Fund support must be BPEX levy payers and applicant groups should contain at least one BPEX levy payer. Once a project has been approved for funding, BPEX will provide ongoing support in all areas, as appropriate, from a member of its KT team.

For further information, contact your regional BPEX Knowledge Transfer Manager kt@bpex.org.uk. Find your regional Knowledge Transfer Manager here.

BPEX, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2TL Tel: 0247 647 8801.

Read guidance on applications for the Innovation Fund

Applying for an innovation fund - what is the process?

Download an application form

The next Pig Technical Committee meeting is 1/10/10. The cut off for applications to be received by BPEX is 10/09/10.