Farmers Guardian Grants Special 1st December 2023

Edited

We take a look at upcoming grants, which options are still missing from the Sustainable Farming Incentive and why timing and short application windows impact applications.

When it comes to uptake of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, about 6,600 applications have been started but not yet submitted.

By Rachael Brown

Some farmers are taking a look at the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) then standing back to deliberate how the scheme might or might not fit into their farming businesses.

The idea of not hitting the submit button on the online application form and essentially delaying any further commitment to joining SFI at this point in time has been reflected in the latest Defra figures.

When it comes to SFI uptake, about 6,600 applications have been started but not yet submitted. This mood of hesitancy is also backed up by the fact that only 1,700 agreement offers have been accepted and only 800 of those agreements are live with farmers delivering on the required outcomes.

NFU senior adviser Claire Robinson, who leads on the union’s development work on the future environmental scheme, said an update

SFI must fit into farm businesses

on SFI was expected from Defra soon. But with there still being a mixture of existing schemes, she called for more clarity around the total offer when it comes to SFI, adding that it needs to be simplified to make it easier for farmers to commit to business decisions.

She said: “For farmers already in

agri-environment schemes, they need to know how they can transition to a new Environmental Land Management [ELM] scheme or stack the new ELM offers with their existing agreement.”

Ms Robinson said it was important the incoming announcement covered how Defra was going to support the

industry through productivity grants and what this offer looks like in the next couple of years.

She said: “It would be good to have a roadmap for further development of ELM for the next couple of years. There is a need to address gaps in the offer, including greenhouse gas audits, better provisions for permanent pasture and sectors which cannot access ELM, for example horticulture.”

She also reiterated the need for a fair incentive to be offered to improve uptake to the schemes and in recognition of ongoing maintenance and environmental delivery.

Latest Defra figures stated agreement offers had been issued to nearly 2,150 farmers, but only 1,700 had accepted the offer.

Ms Robinson said: “Farmers need to be confident that SFI can fit into their farming system. Equally, Defra needs to demonstrate that the monitoring regime is supportive if things do not go quite to plan.”

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‘Apply now while the grant is still here’

WITH a General Election around the corner in 2024, the availability of funds, such as the Farming Transformation Fund Adding Value grant, was ‘even more important to apply for and chase’ while it is still there.

That was the message from rural adviser and director of agribusiness at S.R.H. Agribusiness, Simon Haley, adding that relying on future funds and grants to exist in the same manner ‘would be naive’.

It has been over a year now since the initial expressions of interest window was opened for this grant scheme, with the full application deadline rapidly approaching at the end of January 2024.

Initiative

Mr Haley said: “If you are expecting this funding contribution to significantly transform aspects of your business and income streams, take the initiative and take control in your hands now rather than leaving it to the whim of a Whitehall bureaucrat or a

Treasury official, who suddenly decides come a new administration that farming has had enough support the last decade.”

He said this opportunity should not be dismissed lightly.

Full application

He said: “Others have already come forward with a full application, had that appraised, been approved and started the work, so funds are being allocated and spent already, allowing businesses to reap the rewards of a competitive process.”

He said the scope of the grant was ‘very generous’ and could be used for buildings, machinery or equipment, including secondhand, as long as the value was being added to eligible agricultural products after they are harvested or reared.

He said: “At a minimum grant of £25,000 to a maximum of £300,000 at 40 per cent rate, for those large projects, it really is transformational, as the name of the grant suggests.”

Inconsistencies mean SFI ‘not straightforward’ for all farms

By Rachael Brown

While the industry is hearing that some farmers are choosing to ‘stand back’ to consider their options when it comes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), others, more than 2,000 of them, are applying and getting their agreements offered within a few weeks.

But when it comes to the application process, the delivery and the options available to farmers, there are some inconsistencies, which the industry hopes will be ironed out in the next SFI announcement.

NFU rural adviser Claire Robinson said while some applicants were ‘flying through the application process’, others were coming across technical issues, the biggest challenge related to mapping.

She said: “The land cover and area for a field needs to match the land use

for the field. If it does not, it leads to the computer saying ‘no’.”

Where the current SFI does contain something for most grassland and arable farmers, Ms Robinson said improvement to the upland offer was required, as backed up in recent modelling work by NFU.

On paper, the arable payments are more generous than for grassland or livestock systems

CLAIRE ROBINSON

Despite the pushed narrative from Defra, from the very beginning, that upland farms would not be left behind and be left with a cliff edge in funding, the NFU’s latest modelling work demonstrated that under current payment options, on average, upland farm businesses suffered an income loss of about 37 per cent.

Ms Robinson said: “We are concerned that long-term permanent pasture grasslands will not easily fit into the grassland actions on offer. These grasslands should be rewarded for the carbon capture they deliver.

“On paper, the arable payments are more generous than for grassland or livestock systems. That is before you take into account the costs of doing those options, and those costs will vary by farm.

“Most of the arable options require the land to be taken out of production and require a seed mix to be sown, plus ongoing management which was not

part of normal crop management. On more productive land, payment rates will not be attractive enough.”

Underwhelmed

When it comes to dairy, SFI incentives have left many farmers feeling underwhelmed, but at least there were SFI actions they could engage with, from legume or herbal ley, soil testing and nutrient management planning.

But Ms Robinson said that these actions were ‘not always straightforward’ and that additional options to reduce ammonia and improve slurry management would be welcomed, such as slurry analysis and further support for ‘low emission slurry applications, such as injection and dribble bars’.

It was not only uplands and dairy that SFI had struggled to engage with, there was criticism for the lack of options currently offered to fit in with poultry, pig and horticulture farm businesses.

The Farming Transformation Fund Adding Value grant could provide funding for a vending machine investment.

Defra has been working to smooth out and simplify its application and approvals process for grants in England. Olivia Midgley reports.

With area-based payments almost disappearing from next year, farmers have been urged to take another look at the plethora of grants available.

Defra has been offering various funding streams to support farming businesses keen to invest in food production, animal health and welfare and the environment for a number of years, but the process has not always been easy.

For some it has been tricky and time-consuming, with the end result not always worth the time and effort put into the application.

But Defra has been working to simplify and smooth out the process and Sarah Evered, the department’s head of farming, productivity and innovation policy teams, has sought to reassure businesses there is a lot to be gained.

Speaking at the Farm Business Innovation Show at Birmingham’s NEC (November 15), she said: “We have changed our relationship with farmers. In the past it was fraught and the service you received did not live up to expectations.

“We have tried to simplify the process of how we work and we want to work closely with you all.”

Highlighting the series of schemes which give one-off payments for equipment, infrastructure and technology, she said a key focus was ‘supporting farmers to make the changes which need to happen’.

Accessibility

“We know we need to reach out and make funding as accessible as we can to all businesses, from upland farmers, tenants and farmers in all sectors. We have looked to modify what we are doing,” she told a packed seminar on grant funding.

At the heart of schemes such as the Farming Investment Fund is the drive to support innovation and productivity, animal health and welfare and help to deliver environmental outcomes. Competitions for funding will top £133 million in 2023.

With some farmers put off by the

Help

■ DEFRA’S BLOG: defrafarming. blog.gov.uk/2023/03/02/grantsavailable-in-2023

Sarah Evered speaking at the Farm Business Innovation Show.

Simplifying the grants application process

application process and fears that they do not have time to apply, Ms Evered sought to allay concerns.

“The application process is taking 15-20 minutes from start to finish,” she said.

“It could be quicker if you have all your holding numbers and other details to hand.”

She advised those waiting to see what might be on offer in 2024 to look at the 2023 suite of schemes for advice and guidance.

The guidance will remain largely unchanged next year.

However, after each funding round, farmers are surveyed to enable Defra to refine the list of items eligible.

Ms Evered added: “In early 2024, we will review the list of items and see if other items should be on the list for next time and if we need to alter the specifications. This is really helpful

ADVICE ON APPLYING

■ Each scheme has its own set of rules; access the handbook for each scheme on the Defra website

■ For schemes such as the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, each item on the list is scored against Defra

for us and we do take these additions on board. The general gist on how the scheme runs will remain largely unchanged.”

In terms of what is coming up in 2024, she urged businesses to look at the Farming Transformation Fund’s

SARAH EVERED

criteria around productivity, innovation, the environment and animal health welfare

■ The items with the highest scores will receive funding first

■ For the Farming Innovation Fund, in conjunction with Innovate UK,

Improving Farm Productivity grant manual, which can be found on the Defra website.

“There is guidance on scope, but the overall budget of £30m will be split between robotics and automation and we have lowered the threshold down to £25,000 to make it more accessible.”

On accessibility, Ms Evered said Defra was aware of the financial pressures many businesses were facing at the moment and, with schemes such as the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, it had lowered the threshold to £1,000.

“We recognise that making these investments is tough in this climate at the moment,” she said, adding the department was ‘highly oversubscribed across all our schemes, so it is competitive but we do try and put that flexibility in where we can’.

assessors will assess the viability of a project and use a set of criteria to assess which ones show the most promise; this may be a prototype for a piece of technology or equipment developed on-farm

It could be quicker if you have all your holding numbers and other details to hand

Fund requires ‘long-term’ environmental commitment

Applicants for round two of the Landscape Recovery Fund should now have heard if their project passed Defra’s ‘value for public money test’ and if it has the credentials to deliver the ‘landscape-scale impact’ Defra was looking for.

The selected projects will now begin their two-year development phase to finalise arrangements before the environmental projects are able to get properly underway.

Rachel Bagshaw, associate director and head of land agency at H&H Land and Estates, said Defra was expected to offer up to 25 of the highest-scoring projects a place on the scheme, with the total project development budget available being up to £15 million.

She said: “The maximum amount of

development funding per project was £750,000. But in round one, Defra had stated it would fund 15 projects and accepted 22 applications deemed to meet the scheme’s criteria.”

Round two was intended to support projects which have a focus on net zero, protected sites and wildlife-rich habitats. Applications would also have to demonstrate extra environmental and social benefits, including improved

water quality, helping species recovery, enhanced soil health, increased resilience to natural hazards, such as floods, as well as increased physical access and engagement with nature.

Ms Bagshaw added the schemes provided long-term public funding over 20 years, supporting projects that take a long time to deliver outcomes, such as peatland restoration, woodland management or habitat restoration.

“What makes these projects pass Defra’s fundamental ‘value for public money’ test is their landscape-scale impact, which will usually require groups of landowners and farmers working together and making a longterm commitment to manage the land in this way,” she said.

Ms Bagshaw emphasised the application process was competitive, with 51 projects submitted for Defra’s stated 15 approvals in round one.

She said: “The technical complications of this scheme and the requirement for collaboration can be off-putting for many landowners and farmers, but there is expected to be a similar level of competition for round two funding, and here at H&H Land and Estates we are helping to support applications for three clients in Cumbria alone.”

The focus for round two was projects based around net zero, protected sites and wildlife-rich habitats.

PICTURE: GETTY

More than double the funding was on offer in the second round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant.

But with dwindling confidence in the dairy sector as a result of a sustained poor milk price, high input costs and squeezed profit margins, farmers are cautious about where, when and what to invest in, questioning whether now is the right time to apply or not.

Defra has made a further £74 million available to help farmers invest in improved slurry infrastructure to tackle issues of water pollution, improve air quality and make efficient use of organic nutrients.

Farmers can apply for grants of £25,000 to £250,000 to replace, expand, build extra and cover slurry stores or to fund equipment such as reception pits, agitators and separators.

Dairy farmer Charles Goadby, from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, was put off applying to the first round of the grant, as he was ‘not in the priority areas’, according to the Defra maps online.

He had hoped to apply for the second round, but fears he will lose out once again, as he does not have all the prices and feasibility reports back to complete the application.

Mr Goadby said: “Short-term window grants are as good as their timing.

“For some it is encouraging them to invest and take on debt that they are not ready for and cannot fully afford.

“For others it is a fight to get projects designed and costed up in order to even consider an application.

“With so many investing in the same areas in such a short window it

With applications now open for the second round of Defra’s Slurry Infrastructure Grant, Rachael Brown takes a look at whether dairy farmers are looking to invest.

Slurry grant only as good as its timing

becomes a seller’s market, which inevitably leads to inflated prices either through supply and demand, or simply because manufacturers know what grants are out there,” he said.

The Defra website states the grant must be paid in arrears and the claimant must have sufficient funds to pay for all items in full before claiming the grant payment.

Complicated

For tenant farmers, accessibility to grants can often be a complicated commitment and the uncertainty of whether the farm, or parts of the farm, could be taken back in hand often delays investment decisions.

Cotswolds tenant dairy farmer Pete Ledbury only has five years left on his farm business tenancy and said the expense which this grant would involve was not something he could consider right now.

Another dairy farmer from Cheshire echoed the unsettling ‘uneconomic climate’ in dairy right now, adding that he would be ‘unwilling to commit to further borrowing’ at the moment.

The slurry infrastructure grant forms a key component of the Government’s plan for water, which sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle every source of water pollution.

The scheme is also focused on helping to reduce air pollution, tackle biodiversity decline and support the recovery of protected sites.

Mixed farmer Robert Davies, and West Midlands dairy board chair was rejected first time around, adding his farm was ‘not enough a high priority area’ despite farming in the Wye catchment. He has applied for the second round to replace his existing 40-year-old slurry store but criticised the availability of long-term funding.

He said: “We are under increasing environmental and legislative pressure and with direct support through through the Basic Payment Scheme disappearing the cost of compliance to businesses like our own is becoming prohibitive. If sufficient long-term funding is not available it is inevitable that the number of dairy farmers exiting the industry will accelerate.”

Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: “We are indebted to farmers who work day in day out to ensure we have great British food on our tables while protecting and shaping our countryside. It is vital they are supported to make the environmental improvements I know so many want to make.

“Our Slurry Infrastructure Grant is helping farmers to invest in infrastructure which is often costly, but can deliver big benefits for our waterways and air quality, while also cutting their input costs.”

Launch

This grant comes before the launch of two further rounds of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in early 2024 and 2025, offering £21m for smaller items of equipment to help farmers manage slurry, from nutrient testing kits to low emission spreaders.

Farmers can also apply for complementary options under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, including support to produce a nutrient management plan and establish multispecies winter cover and buffer strips.

A store could be one item which attracts grant funding under the Slurry Infrastructure Grant.