GRANTS SPECIAL
This special includes changes to SFI, the ‘breadth of options’ available under Capital Grants, and reasons for livestock farmers to sign up for slurry management funding.
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The rules around herbal leys have been altered for 2024.
Key changes in SFI options to look out for
Earlier in the summer, the Rural Payments Agency temporarily closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme to new applications pending a further re-vamp.
David Morley, head of conservation and environment at H&H Land and Estates, said the scheme was now going through a ‘controlled rollout’ so applicants who have submitted an ‘Expression of Interest’ can apply.
The revised scheme effectively combines the 2023 SFI offering with Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship, plus some new actions, into one expanded scheme.
Mr Morley outlines the key changes to the options available in the following panels.
NEW ACTIONS FOR UPLAND FARMERS
MR Morley said: “There are three new moorland management actions for different stocking densities.”
He said these were from £20/ hectare for a maximum of two hill ewes (or equivalent) per ha; £53/ha for one ewe per ha, and £66/ha for only half a ewe per ha, which he said was ‘rather lower than most existing Higher Tier or Higher Level Stewardship schemes on moorland’.
He said: “Supplements are available for grazing moorland with cattle or ponies of between £7 and £23/ha, depending on the proportion of cattle or ponies being grazed.
“A supplement for Native Breeds at
Risk [NBAR] of up to £11/ha is also available on moorland and includes some sheep breeds for the first time, including Herdwicks.”
But he added to qualify, animals need to be registered pedigree, which he said was not common practice with many sheep breeds.
“The NBAR supplement is available on in-bye ground as a supplement to low input grassland options, paying £92/ha for grazing more than 50% pedigree native breeds or £146/ha for more than 80%,” Mr Morley said.
New actions are available for shepherding on moorland, which can be ‘stacked with moorland
CHANGES TO HERBAL LEY REQUIREMENTS
THE herbal leys action has, until now, required only that agreement holders ‘establish a herbal ley’.
In the 2024 update, Mr Morley said this has been defined as a mix of at least one grass species, two legumes and two herbs or wildflowers, adding inorganic fertiliser applications are now restricted to 40kg per hectare of nitrogen.
He said the new requirements are much ‘clearer and the fertiliser restriction should help prevent herbal leys failing in a more intensive input regime’.
To avoid ongoing re-establishment costs, Mr Morley said farmers should consider carefully where herbal leys will best establish on their land, adding ‘a new herbal ley needs to be maintained in the same location for the full three years of the scheme’.
management or undertaken on their own’.
He said: “The basic action pays £33/ha and requires stocking and shepherding calendars, but no stocking restrictions.
“If all stock is off-wintered for at least four months, the payment rises to £43/ha, which values off-wintering at only £10/ha, significantly less than it is likely to cost.
“For the first time since 2014, there will be payments – of £27 per 100 metres – for maintaining dry stone walls. The Capital Grant scheme remains open for those walls that need full restoration, rather than gapping up.”
Range of Capital Grants ‘worth investigating’
KEEPING on top of the range of available grant funding opportunities can ‘pose a challenge , but CLA senior land use policy adviser Cameron Hughes said some schemes hold ‘broader appeal than others’, with the range of Capital Grants being ‘particularly worth investigating’.
The Capital Grants differ from schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive or Countryside Stewardship, in that they contribute towards the costs of particular items, ‘rather than funding land management interventions in exchange for a £/hectare payments’.
Mr Hughes said: “Some members have ended up fully funding works to only then realise there could have been funding support their hedge planting or fencing projects.”
He said Defra said there were now 108 different Capital Grants available, split into five categories: Capital Grants; Protection and Infrastructure grants; Woodland Tree Health grants; Capital Grants plans and Higher-Tier Capital Grants.
Mr Hughes added the Capital Grants included a long list of everyday capital infrastructure found on many farms, such as fences, gates and troughs and more niche items such as leaky wooden dams.
Some new items announced earlier this summer include those to fund the creation of in-field agroforestry systems. Some of the ‘more popular items’ include:
■ Fencing (£6.34/metre).
■ Sheep netting (£7.47/m).
■ Planting new hedges (£22.97/m).
■ Wooden field gate (£489.90/ gate).
Mr Hughes said the grant funding contributions are ‘not designed to fund the entire cost of each capital item but do offer a meaningful contribution’.
Hedge planting grants come in at £22.97/metre.
“Clearly farmers should be wary of falling into the trap of chasing funding just because it is there.
“There should be firm rationale for selecting any items included in an application,” he said.
Defra needs to maintain support for local abattoirs
FUNDING for the creation of new and mobile abattoirs through the Farming Investment Fund must be rolled out and treated as ‘equal priority’ along with continued investment for existing abattoirs, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Christopher Price said.
He added that he was concerned by the lack of updates from the current Government.
Mr Price said: “The introduction of the Smaller Abattoir Fund, launched last December to provide £4 million investment in the maintenance and improvement of the local abattoir network, was great news for sustainable livestock farmers.
Farmers in England who have been shortlisted for Defra’s second round of Slurry Infrastructure grant funding must complete a slurry store location and design assessment form before September 30, 2024, and submit these to the Rural Payment Agency for approval, to be eligible to access the funds.
This is the advice from Severn Trent’s senior catchment management scientist, Dr Adam Freer, who stressed the value of these grants in protecting water quality and improving farm management.
Mr Freer said: “As a water company, we welcome the Government support for farmers, but for those not eligible, there is a variety of alternative funding options available to support investments in slurry management on dairy, beef and pig farms.
Invest
“With winter fast approaching I would urge all farmers to invest in best practice manure handling and storage techniques to ensure compliance with the Farming Rules for Water and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, to help protect the environment and make the best use of homegrown nutrient sources.”
For those farmers who have missed the opportunity to apply for Defra funding to help improve, expand or cover their slurry storage, Mr Freer said a third round of the Slurry Infrastructure grant was expected to open later in 2024.
“In the meantime, there are also Countryside Stewardship options available with support from Catchment Sensitive Farming, as part of
“Without a network of local abattoirs, capable of processing small numbers of different breeds, they cannot run their businesses, so it is vital that Defra keeps it.
“But it is not just about existing abattoirs, we also need new abattoirs.
Support
“In May, the previous Government promised £3m to support the creation of new and mobile abattoirs though the Farming Investment Fund.
“Since then we have heard nothing. The rollout of this needs to be given equal priority.”
Cumbrian farmer and RBST chair John Atkinson said the loss of
any more abattoirs in Cumbria would ‘devastate the area’s livestock farming’.
He said: “Many of our farmers provide high value meat, using local breeds, bred for Cumbria’s landscape and habitats and with that lo-
cal connection being a significant part of their brand.
“The more intensive industrial processors simply can not provide the necessary service, even if they are within a reasonable distance, which is not often the case,” he added.
Alternative funding options available for slurry management
Farmers need to invest in best practice manure handling, says Dr Adam Freer, of Severn Trent.
the Mid Tier, Higher Tier and Capital Grants schemes.
“This includes funding for roofing slurry stores and installing drainage systems in specified areas,” Dr Freer said.
He also advised farmers to explore the funding schemes on offer from water companies across the UK, which are tailored to regional
needs and aimed at supporting producers to protect water quality and improve on-farm efficiencies.
“For example, our popular Severn Trent Environmental Protection Scheme [STEPS] scheme includes several funding options to help farmers improve slurry storage and management in our crypto priority catchments.
“This ranges from funding to cover manure stores, which excludes rainwater and reduces storage pressure, to clean and dirty water separation equipment, concreting and precision-spreading equipment.”
Mr Freer added that all options within STEPS come with expert advice and support, to ensure environmental-focused projects are suited to the needs of the individual farm business.
Guide
He said: “We can help guide farmers to any grants they may be eligible for – including options funded by the Government and private organisations.”
For this year’s round of STEPS funding, applications are open until November 30, 2024, however Mr Freer said work must be completed and funding claimed by December 31, 2024.
Sustainable farms in areas such as Cumbria rely on local abattoirs.
Improving Farm Productivity Grant Round 2
Important Dates:
The eligibility checker application closed on 21 March 2024
Successful applicants have until 31 July 2025 to submit their full applications
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‘Transformative effect’ of Government grant support
Government grant support enabled Paul Temple, a Church Commissioners for England tenant at Wold Farm on the East Riding Estate, to invest in a mobile cattle handling system for his family’s beef cattle.
He has applied for a few grants over the past four years, including the former Countryside Productivity Grant, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and the Farming Resilience Fund, which he said has had a ‘transformative effect’ on his business.
Mr Temple said: “Better cattle handling facilities come with major improvements in terms of both speed and safety, and there has been a noticeable impact on our productivity.”
When questioned how he found the overall application process for grants and farming support schemes, he said it was not too complicated, but that getting the grant verified was the most difficult part, adding due to the complexity involved there was often no other option but to pay someone to navigate the process for him.
Complex
He said: “The new environmental schemes, in particular, are so complex and change so often, that we are having to pay someone to help us through it.
“Farmers are already time-poor and under a lot of competing pressures, so there is a need to streamline these processes to ensure those who
need them are not deterred by very technical, detailed requirements.”
Mr Temple said he believed grant opportunities were ‘absolutely critical’ for tenant farmers.
“They are usually used for longterm investments that many would not have the confidence to pursue otherwise, but which make an immense difference to productivity and environmental sustainability,” he said.
“In the context of how much the cost of often necessary equipment like
machinery has risen in recent years, and the impact one of the wettest years on record has had on output, grants can provide a lifeline.”
But he acknowledged that for farmers on shorter lets, there was a ‘heavier administrative burden’.
He said: “Having multiple landlords can also add to that complexity, which has made the strong working relationship we have with the Church Commissioners for England invaluable.”
Looking ahead to future grant
Paul Temple said it would be good for future grants to be available for land drainage.
opportunities which should be made available to farmers, including tenants, under the new Labour Government, Mr Temple said it would be good to see a grant that assisted farmers in land drainage.
“After this year’s continuous wet weather, the value and necessity of drainage to any farm has never been so apparent. Wet land simply does not function on any level, making a good drainage system the bedrock of any farm,” he said.
Local authority grants available for rural businesses
OUTSIDE of the productivity and environmental grants offered by Defra, consultant and founder of SRH Agribusiness, Simon Haley, said there were other funds available via local authorities and the Shared Prosperity Fund which could still be accessed by farms and rural businesses.
Mr Haley said these opportunities could help with ‘resilience planning, strategic advice and business growth’, but current availability of funds must be checked on the relevant council website as per the applicant’s business location.
He said that in Cumbria, both Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council were offering
‘advice vouchers’ worth £500 to rural businesses towards the cost of a wide range of professional support.
“No match funding is needed, the voucher is paid directly to the business and only one quote is needed if the cost of the work is below £2,000, with two quotes if over this amount,” he said.
Offered
“Vouchers are offered on a first-comefirst-served basis until all available funds are allocated, with all activity to have been completed by January 31, 2025.”
He said the vouchers could contribute towards ‘accountancy advice, for legal matters, insurance risk assess-
ments, planning and architectural services, marketing campaigns or agricultural consultancy support’.
“So, for farms that have not yet considered entering the Sustainable Farming Incentive and are not sure where to start with understanding the various scheme options, or would like assistance working up their Farming Transformation Fund grant application, combining one of these vouchers with access to the Farming Resilience Fund could be worth close to £2,000 per farm in free professional advice,”
Mr Haley added.
In addition, he said Cumberland Council was also offering revenue grants to a higher amount of up to
£7,500 for similar projects and professional support, but said this came with a requirement of being 50% match funded.
He said: “Separately, the West Yorkshire combined authority has a business growth grant offered by the Adventure programme, targeted at young businesses up to three years old on their growth journey, with the grant covering 50% of total project costs and available between £1,500 and £10,000.
“This can be used to fund costs that support growth and job creation. For example, it could be production equipment, website development, office furniture, or marketing collateral.”
The Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS), a £6 million fund which supports sheep production in Scotland’s hills and uplands, is now open, providing what has been described as ‘critical’ funding for ‘the whole rural infrastructure’.
Upland farmer Sybil MacPherson farms 1,800 ewes and 50 hill cows in north west Scotland and has been part of the scheme since the beginning.
Ms MacPherson said without the help of the scheme, livestock grazing would come off the hills, which would have a ‘huge’ impact on biodiversity and the surrounding environment.
She added the upland sheep farms played an important role in the ‘whole stratified sheep industry’.
“The low ground farmers come up to the north and west, buy our draft ewes and use them to then cross with a lower land breed,” she said, adding that without hill farming there would be ‘knock-on effects’ elsewhere.
Sustain
Ms MacPherson said it was also important to consider how the scheme helps to sustain the ‘rural fabric’ of the upland communities.
Robert MacDonald, an upland farmer on the Isle of Skye, who runs 850 Cheviot ewes and 40 head of cattle, has applied for the support scheme for the last few years.
He said: “The livestock industry in
Without the SUSSS, livestock grazing would come off the hills, according to upland farmer Sybil MacPherson.
Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme vital to rural infrastructure
the Highlands and the crofting industry sustains our rural communities that we live in. It is so important that we are able to keep them going.
“We cannot put a price on that, we need to be helped.”
Applications to the scheme close at midnight on November 30.
According to NFU Scotland, payment rates on eligible ewe hoggs were £61.38
Scots farmers and crofters urged to get ‘Whole Farm Plans’ ready
FARMERS and crofters in Scotland are reminded they may need to take certain steps over the coming months to make sure they meet the new rules for ‘Whole Farm Plans’ by May 15, 2025, and remain eligible for Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) support.
Stephen Whiteford, a farming consultant at Strutt and Parker, said Scottish farmers and crofters will continue to receive BPS in 2025, but some of the actions they need to take to ‘qualify’ for their agricultural support payments are ‘changing’. One of these is the introduction of ‘Whole Farm Plan’ conditions.
He said farmers will have to confirm on their Single Application Form that they have completed at least two of the following actions by May 15:
■ Carbon audit.
■ Biodiversity audit.
■ Soil analysis.
■ Animal health and welfare plan.
■ Integrated pest management plan. He said: “There will be many farmers who can tick at least two boxes for the Whole Farm Plan already, but
there will be just as many who will need to act between now and next spring in order to receive their BPS in full. So now is the time to start planning for it so everything is in place before the May 15.”
Five-year period
Mr Whiteford said farmers must complete the carbon audit, biodiversity audit and soil analysis within the five-year period before the claim – so to be eligible for 2025 they must have been completed after May 16, 2020.
He added that the animal health and integrated pest management plans need to be renewed annually, so must be dated after May 16, 2024.
Mr Whiteford said a £500 grant is available to help pay for a carbon audit through the ‘Preparing for Sustainable Farming Scheme’, as well as support for soil testing.
Soil analysis is only applicable to businesses that apply artificial fertilisers and organic manures to permanently managed region 1 land.
in 2023 and £61.25 in 2022, with about 1,150 farming and crofting businesses submitting applications annually.
NFUS said the Scottish Govern-
ment has committed to SUSSS until at least 2026 and was ‘engaging’ with the industry on the scheme’s future beyond that.
Industry ‘uncertain’ about availability of future grants
Prior to the General Election, there were various rounds of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund which ‘cropped up seemingly as a way to mop up some of the unspent budget’ resulting from the then ‘stuttering progress of Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes’.
That was the message from Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) chief executive George Dunn, who said Capital Grants, which demand a financial top-up, should not be considered as a replacement for the previous revenue stream coming via the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
Mr Dunn acknowledged the new Labour Government was ‘pressing ahead’ with the move to delinked payments; the phasing out of direct payments by 2027 with the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) element of ELM expected to continue, as well as the Countryside Stewardship, both Mid and Higher Tiers and the Landscape Recovery.
But Mr Dunn, like many in the industry, has been left questioning what will happen to the various grant schemes going forward. That, he said, was more ‘uncertain’.
Mr Dunn said previously the grants regime was focused on meeting two targets – improving farm prosperity to feed into the ‘growth agenda for the economy’ and supporting farmers to ‘comply with statutory obligations’.
There is a definite need to provide a financial framework within which farm businesses can invest in the necessary fixed equipment they need to comply with regulatory standards
GEORGE DUNN
He said: “There is a definite need to provide a financial framework within which farm businesses can invest in the necessary fixed equipment they need to comply with regulatory standards.”
He added that profitability within the dairy and wider livestock sector was not there to fund the huge levels of investments needed.
But he said with the public purse ‘strapped for cash’, a more ‘pragmatic approach’ was needed heading into the next phase of the agricultural transition.
“There are many farms with fixed equipment which might not meet the regulatory standards, but where they are neither polluting nor at significant risk of polluting,” he said.
“On a risk-assessed basis, these units could be left until a later date for their fixed equipment to be up-
dated while we focus on those units at a higher pollution risk.”
Mr Dunn believed there were also legitimate questions to be asked about the extent to which these schemes ‘truly drive productivity, profitability and resilience.’
He said: “With the grants taking a list-based approach, it is often the case that grants have an inflationary pressure on items identified on the list, while non-listed items become difficult to find because suppliers are focusing on the grant-aided pieces of kit.”
Plans
The TFA believes farmers instead should be encouraged to consider what investment they need in their businesses over a three-year period and then use those plans to apply for a level of annual grant to support those goals, which would be subjected to some form of annual evaluation of progress.
“In that way, we can take a more bespoke and targeted approach to develop the productivity, profitabil-
ity and resilience we all agree we need,” Mr Dunn said.
Andrew Teanby, associate director of Savills research, said many in the sector were feeling ‘anxious’ around the lack of clarity on the future farming budget.
Mr Teanby said: “The previous Government had an annual support budget of £2.4 billion per year for farming, which provided funding for BPS, SFI, legacy agri-environment schemes and Capital Grants. The new Government, however, has yet to confirm its Budget.”
He said Savills had seen a recent increase in uptake in Capital Grants for fencing and hedgerows.
“This payment makes a difference not only for farm operations, but also for the environment, an example of policy meeting multiple goals through one action,” he said.
“The incoming Budget should prioritise more options like this, but, of course, this all depends on one thing: how much money will be placed into the agricultural piggy bank on October 30.”
Farmers will be looking for certainty around agricultural support from Labour’s October 30 Budget.
Interim support schemes for Wales are expected to be announced over the coming months.
Welsh Gov focuses on SFS 26
As we move into autumn, Welsh Government farming support will be focused on preparing for the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) which is expected to launch in 2026.
Farmers’ Union of Wales senior policy adviser Rebecca Voyle said further announcements about additional interim schemes which could run during 2025 are expected to be shared ‘over the coming months’.
Ms Voyle said: “These will be dependent upon the budget allocation received from Westminster and used by the Welsh Government to support agriculture and rural development across Wales, so our lobbying will continue at all levels over the coming months to ensure a fair and secure budget settlement for Welsh agriculture.”
Currently available
Ms Voyle outlined what is available currently and over the next few months for farmers in Wales:
■ The Habitat Wales Scheme (HWS) will be open for applications in 2025 to all farmers with habitat on their land. For 2025, the application process will be via the 2025 Single Application Form (SAF) rather than a separate application process as in 2024.
■ Existing Habitat Wales Scheme Commons agreement holders will be given the option to extend their agreement until December 31, 2025.
■ The Organic Support Payment will be maintained for next year,
with claims being made via the 2025 SAF.
■ The SFS data confirmation exercise 2024 is currently open to Welsh farmers until December 6, 2024.
Ms Voyle said the aim of this exercise is to ‘update Rural Payments Wales (RPW) mapping systems with the correct habitat and tree canopy areas for farms across Wales in advance of the HWS in 2025 and the introduction of the SFS in 2026’.
She said: “While completion of the form – via RPW Online – is not compulsory, farmers intending to apply for HWS in 2025 are encouraged to review and, if necessary, amend the data provided as this will be used as the basis for applications.
“The Welsh Government has emphasised that confirming or amending the data is not a scheme declaration or commitment to manage land in line with any future scheme prescription; it is about giving farmers the opportunity to ensure that RPW holds the correct data on individual farms.”
■ The Small Grants Environment Water scheme is open for applications until September 20, 2024, and provides funding for actions such as hedgerow restoration, pond restoration, maintenance of gateways and cross drains.
■ The Integrated Natural Resources Scheme is a new scheme which is open for applications until September 27, 2024, from groups of farmers who want to work together to deliver nature-based solutions across a landscape, catchment or nationwide area.
■ The Woodland Creation Plan-
ning Scheme and Woodland Creation Grant are both still open for applications for large woodland
planting areas or areas not suitable for the Small Grants Woodland Creation Scheme.
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