Farmers and landowners are being urged to apply for grants under the Second Round of the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS) which runs until 17th July 2012; helping farm businesses improve their competitiveness.
The scheme, which was launched by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), is aimed at helping farmers, foresters, farming contractors, woodland owners and horticultural businesses in England. The grants rates start at 15% and go up to 40% of the total project cost, with a maximum available grant of £25,000 per farm business.
Nick Ainscough of Fisher German comments on the importance of the grants. "We would strongly urge applicants to consider how the FFIS might improve their farming businesses, as unlike some previous schemes the FFIS directly targets items that are normally very hard to justify expenditure on.
"We recommend that people apply now as a review of the funding as part of the larger CAP reform could see funds cut for future initiatives. The RDPE’s previous schemes including the Rural Economy Grant (REG) were oversubscribed; potentially using up large amounts of available funds. Due to this, Round Two may be the last time to apply for grants as there may not be a Round Three."
Grants will be given for investments that meet one or more of the following objectives:
• Reduce energy use
• Improve the management of manures and farm nutrients
• Improve animal health and welfare
• Improve use of forestry resources
• Improve water resource management
Nick Ainscough concludes "We would recommend that anybody wishing to apply for these grants to begin doing so now to meet the 17th July deadline and to avoid any potential disappointment."
