Countryside Stewardship Open for Applications

The scheme to replace the Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship has re-opened for applications this week.

The scheme to replace the Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship has re-opened for applications this week. This also includes capital grants for water management and hedgerow and boundary management. If your ELS/HLS agreement is due to end this year, or if you do not have a current stewardship agreement, it could well be worth applying. Very often there is money available for practices you are already carrying out on the farm.

Let us know if you are interested in applying and we can go through the relevant options for your farm with you.

BPS Application Window Opens

he RPA have this morning announced that the application window has now opened.

The RPA have this morning announced that the application window has now opened. We recommend you get started on your online application as soon as possible by visiting www.gov.uk/rural-payments.

If you would like any assistance with your application, please get in touch as soon as possible as we expect to be very busy in the run up to the deadline. If we assisted you with your application last year, we will be in touch in the next few days to arrange an appointment for this year.

New RDPE Funding Available

New funding is available under the Rural Development Programme for England scheme. The funding will cover a range of items under the headings of Increasing Farm Productivity to Providing Rural Services.

New funding is available under the Rural Development Programme for England scheme. The funding will cover a range of items under the headings of Increasing Farm Productivity to Providing Rural Services. There are no specific guidelines that cover everybody, so if you have any projects in mind at all, let us know what you are considering and we will see if we can find a way of making it fit to the specific scheme for your area.

Grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 are available and will fund up to 40% of eligible projects. As the minimum grant is £10,000, this does mean that only projects with a total value of £25,000 and above will be eligible.

The grant is much more flexible than it was previously and is certainly worth looking at if you are considering a project at any point in the next 3 – 4 years.