Farming Talk: It's nice to be back with good news on grants
Having just returned from six months of maternity leave, it has been suggested that it must be my turn to write the Shropshire Star column!
What better way to get back up to speed than with the good news that farming, forestry and horticultural businesses looking to improve their competitiveness could be eligible for a share in £10m available through the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme.
The third round of the scheme is now open for applications until April 4 and grants of between £2,500 and £35,000 are being awarded to small and medium sized businesses.
Previous applicants may apply for the full £35,000 and early applications are encouraged as the competitive nature of the scheme does not guarantee that all eligible projects will be awarded a grant.
The FFIS is a grant scheme within the Rural Development Programme for England funded jointly by the EU and the UK government.
Grants will be awarded for investment in businesses that meet certain objectives including reducing energy use, improving management of manures, farm nutrients, water and forestry resources and improvements in animal welfare.
The maximum funding available is 50 per cent of eligible costs although this applies only within Severely Disadvantaged Areas.
Typical funding rates elsewhere vary between 15 per cent and 40 per cent. So in a non-SDA area, the minimum grant of £2,500 at 40 per cent funding would require a total investment of £6,250.
Here is an idea of what projects may be eligible to be awarded grant funding.
Some typical capital items might include heat recovery systems and electricity efficiency devices for livestock housing or milk parlours; Soil Mapping Software and GPS Equipment for precision farming; shallow injection systems for slurry tankers and roofing existing manure or silage stores; rainwater harvesting equipment; EID readers, mobile sheep and cattle handling systems and badger proof in-field feed troughs.
But what's not eligible are items which are direct replacements, standard agricultural equipment, a legislative requirement, for example, to comply with NVZ regulations, or an industry obligation.
The RDPE is drawing to a close and all approved projects must be completed by January 2015.
So do check with suppliers for availability and installation timescales, but don't be too hasty in purchasing items before receipt of the grant offer letter from Defra as this will invalidate the application!
Our rural professional team based at the Livestock Market office in Bridgnorth have a 100 per cent success rate for applications in previous rounds of the scheme and welcome any interested parties to discuss their proposals.
I would advise any potential applicants to seek plenty of further advice, even if they have been successful in previous rounds.
This is because some of the conditions have changed and unlike previous rounds, applications are being processed as they are received, so the sooner you can apply the better.
Melanie Holt is a rural surveyor with Nock Deighton Agricultural LLP.
