There have been a number of recent significant announcements & updates that we wanted to highlight to you in relation to grant funding, annual environmental stewardship claims and SFI 2023.

Farming Equipment & Technology Grant

One grant from each theme … potential total of £125,000 match funded grant funding.

Payment Rate

Value of claim will now be based on the stated % of the lesser of either:

• The expected average cost of the item as published in the specification list
• The actual cost you pay for the item

Applications made through Farming Investment Fund Service.

• Do not order or pay for the items (unless with a refundable deposit) until grant offer made
• Items must be NEW and not using part-ex / hire purchase / lease
• Items can be higher specification than is stated
• Grants over £25,000 … must provide additional documents:
  • 3 yrs trading accounts
  • latest tax return / income/expenses statement
  • evidence of match funding for items

Scoring

The RPA will give your application a score by:

• adding together the scores for each item in your application (if you apply for more than one of the same item, the item will only be scored once)
• dividing this number by the number of items in your application (if you apply for more than one of the same item, the item will only be counted once)

Example

1 x FETF45: direct drill (item score 67)

2 x FETF51: retro fitted yield monitoring (item score 59)

1 x FETF220: real-time in line forage crop analyser (item score 57)

Application score: 61 (67+59+57 = 183. 183 ÷ 3 = 61)

Animal Health & Welfare … increased score by 20% if can evidence discussed application with vet.

Notes

• Check updated item specifications
• Two further application windows expected later in 2024

2024 Environmental Stewardship Claim Window Open

• Submission of claims for Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes are now open ahead of the 15 May deadline
• You must update “land use codes” on Rural Payments Online

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023

• 25% limit of total farm area
• Applies only to:
  • IGL1 : Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management
  • IGL2 : Winter bird food on improved grassland
  • AHL1 : Pollen and nectar flower mix
  • AHL2 : Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land
  • AHL3 : Grassy field corners and blocks
  • IPM2 : Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips

More information an be found on the Farming Blog.