Countryside Stewardship - take it whilst you can!!

Countryside Stewardship is now open for applications. The deadline for Mid Tier applications is 29th July, and Higher Tier is 29th April.

With BPS reducing, Countryside Stewardship is a perfect way to top up some of the income you will be losing. We can work with you to design a scheme which will compliment your existing farming enterprises whilst also providing a boost to overall farm income. The payment rates for Countryside Stewardship annual revenue options have been reviewed, and some have increased significantly, so now is a great time to look at the options.

Countryside Stewardship is only available for applications this year and next year. After that, your only option will be the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which currently has very disappointing payment rates compared to Countryside Stewardship.

Countryside Stewardship is a 5 or 10 year agreement, and if the Sustainable Farming Incentive payment rates improve in this time and you would be better off under that scheme, you will be allowed to transfer.

One change this year is that the stand alone Capital Grants under Countryside Stewardship will remain open all year, or until the pot of money is allocated. If you are looking at any options as a stand-alone grant, we would suggest getting the application in as soon as possible to ensure you secure it in time.

Get in touch today and we will take you through the options for your situation.

Sam Kelly 07777 696080 sam@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Charlie Davies 07904 601104 charlie@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Pete Kelly 07970 942668 pete@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Office 01454 614624

Improving Farm Productivity grants now open for applications

This week, DEFRA have announced the opening of the application window for the Improving Farm Productivity element of the Farming Transformation Fund.

Guidance for the grant was explained in our post last month, but to recap:

How much funding is available?

The grants will pay at a rate of 40% towards eligible costs, with a minimum grant of £35,000 (minimum total spend of £87,500) and a maximum grant of £500,000.

What items will this grant fund?

DEFRA have released examples of equipment that will be funded through this theme for both robotics and slurry acidification equipment.

Robotics:

• robotic harvesting equipment

• robotic weeding equipment

• robotic spraying equipment

• autonomous driverless tractors or platforms

• voluntary robotic milking system

• robotic feeding systems

• robotic transplanting

• advanced ventilation control units

• wavelength specific LED lighting for horticultural crops

Additional robotic items will be considered, as long as it has a sensing system, the ability to understand its environment, decision making capability to plan, and control actuators.

Slurry Acidification:

Slurry Acidification projects will include systems that lower the pH value of slurry using acid treatment to stabilise the ammonia, thereby increasing the availability of nutrients for plants, and reducing ammonia emissions.

For a system to be eligible the following 4 items need to be present:

• acid storage

• dosing equipment

• mixing tank

• pump.

The costs of installation and commissioning the above equipment is also fundable through the scheme. It is also possible to stack the slurry acidification project with shallow injectors, trailing shoes, dribble bars or the real-time analysis of slurry.

The next steps

The eligibility checker is now open for farmers to see how their projects score against DEFRA’s targets, this checker will remain open until the 16th of March.

Questions include information regarding the total cost of the project (and the items you wish to purchase), which sectors of agriculture this grant will benefit (i.e., dairy vs arable) and also how the equipment will be powered (Mains/biofuel/renewable energy).

For example, in order for a voluntary robotic milker project to score highly against DEFRA’s targets, the units need to be powered by electricity produced from the farm itself and also the ability for this power to be stored in a battery. Unfortunately, such renewable energy systems are not available through this grant. However, upgrading of existing electricity supplies to the holding is eligible, providing this cost doesn’t add up to over 10% of the project total. For example, if a project requires an additional 100 Kw of electrical supply and the new supply is 200 Kw, only half of the cost will be eligible. There needs to be clear detailed evidence of the power requirement of the project in the full application. So, these costs need to be factored in carefully to applications and careful consideration is needed when answering the eligibility questions

The grant does not fund the construction of any new buildings or conversion of existing buildings, the funding available is only for the equipment itself.

To find the eligibility checker, please follow this link: https://check-farming-transformation-fund.defra.gov.uk/productivity/start

After answering the eligibility questions?

You are able to answer the questions as many times as you wish, once happy with your answers, you add your business details and submit your answers to the RPA to request the full application form. The RPA will score your application, based on your answers given and the total quantity of applications received, a decision will then be made to award application forms to a certain number of projects which score highly against the criteria.

For further advice, or for help with an application – please get in touch with your usual consultant.

Sam Kelly 07777 696080 sam@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Charlie Davies 07904 601104 charlie@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Pete Kelly 07970 942668 pete@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Office 01454 614624

Farm Productivity Grant to Open Jan 2022

FARMING INVESTMENT FUND – FARM PRODUCTIVITY THEME

DEFRA have finally accepted that they need to release grant guidance in advance of the grant release dates which is a huge help to forward planning!

With this in mind, DEFRA have released the second theme within the Farming Transformation Fund – Improving Farming Productivity. Applications for this theme will open in January and will be a two-step process.

Step one is an eligibility checker, this will open in mid-January and will remain open for a minimum of 8 weeks. Should a project score highly enough against DEFRA’s targets – applicants will be invited to submit a full application. Applications will need to be submitted by mid-September 2022.

How much funding is available?

The grants will pay at a rate of 40% towards eligible costs, with a minimum grant of £35,000 (minimum total spend of £87,500) and a maximum grant of £500,000.

What items will this grant fund?

DEFRA have released examples of equipment that will be funded through this theme for both robotics and slurry acidification equipment.

Robotics:

• robotic harvesting equipment

• robotic weeding equipment

• robotic spraying equipment

• autonomous driverless tractors or platforms

• voluntary robotic milking system

• robotic feeding systems

• robotic transplanting

• advanced ventilation control units

• wavelength specific LED lighting for horticultural crops

Additional robotic items will be considered, as long as it has a sensing system, the ability to understand its environment, decision making capability to plan, and control actuators.

Slurry Acidification:

Slurry Acidification projects will include systems that lower the pH value of slurry using acid treatment to stabilise the ammonia, thereby increasing the availability of nutrients for plants, and reducing ammonia emissions.

For a system to be eligible the following 4 items need to be present:

• acid storage

• dosing equipment

• mixing tank

• pump.

The costs of installation and commissioning the above equipment is also fundable through the scheme. It is also possible to stack the slurry acidification project with shallow injectors, trailing shoes, dribble bars or the real-time analysis of slurry.

What are the aims of this fund?

Capital items available will need to increase productivity through:

• the use of robotic or autonomous equipment and systems to aid crop and livestock production.

• the installation of slurry acidification equipment (improved nutrient management, reduced ammonia emissions).

When completing the eligibility checker – the priorities for funding will be towards projects that:

• improve efficiency and effectiveness of primary agricultural or horticultural production

• reduce your farms environmental impact resulting in a positive contribution to net zero and GHG reduction

• improve nutrient and resource management that supports optimisation of field and livestock operations

• adopt automation in areas where access to labour is an issue.

For further details on the Farm Productivity Grant – you can read the full guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/about-the-improving-farm-productivity-grant

What are the next steps?

As mentioned above, the eligibility checker will be open for this theme from Mid-January. A lot of interest is expected for this theme, so clear and well thought out projects will be essential.

Should a project be invited to complete a full application, detailed business and financial information will be required.

Please also bear in mind the window for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (up to £25k/round) shuts on the 7th of January for the first round of applications.

For further advice on what items might be available, or for help with an application – please get in touch with your usual consultant.

Sam Kelly 07777 696080 sam@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Charlie Davies 07904 601104 charlie@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Pete Kelly 07970 942668 pete@kellyfarmconsulting.com

Office 01454 614624