An additional £400,000 has been made available for a farm business improvement initiative created for Northern Irish farmers to make small scale investments.
Almost 3,000 applications were received under the second tranche of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme – Capital (FBIS-C), which is designed to support small scale investments.
It is hoped these investments will improve the sustainability of farm businesses through the purchase of equipment and machinery, costing from £5,000 to £30,000, from a list of eligible items.
A Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) spokesperson said the total budget for Tier 1 of the FBIS-C is £15million, and with £7.1million spent on tranche 1, the Department has confirmed that £7.9million will be available for this tranche.
"This increased budget for tranche 2 will help to ensure that the future sustainability of even more farms in Northern Ireland is achieved through capital investment in equipment that will also bring about improvements to the environment, animal and plant health, occupational health and safety and production efficiency," the spokersperson said.
"This additional funding will also help to ensure that the target spend of £15million over both tranches of this popular scheme is achieved and will be a further boost to the wider agricultural and horticultural economy."
To date 1,480 Letters of Offer for grant totalling £7.5million have been issued. Letters of Offer will continue to issue to eligible applications on a weekly basis to those receiving the highest score until the available budget is fully allocated. It is expected that unsuccessful applicants will be notified by early June.
Tips for successful farmers
• Read the Letter of Offer (LoO) carefully and return the Form of Acceptance to Countryside Services Ltd within 28 days of the date of the LoO;
• Only purchase items that are detailed on the LoO schedule and as described in the Tranche 2 List of Eligible Items;
• Complete their project and submit the claim within four months of the date of the LoO; and
• That failure to purchase all items for which grant has been awarded, claiming for items that have not been included in the project schedule or not complying with the terms and conditions of the LoO (which includes purchasing items prior to the date of LoO), may result in financial reductions.
