Whilst the main Countryside Stewardship Scheme will not begin until 1st January 2016, some more targeted grants are currently in the process of being released. Applications are now invited for the following:
Woodland Capital Grants – Application Window: NOW until 30th June
Applications are currently invited for:
- Woodland Creation
- Woodland Management Plans (in preparation for other support from the Countryside Stewardship Scheme)
- Addressing tree health issues
Water Capital Grants – Application Window: NOW until 30th April
Applications are open for grants of up to £10,000 per holding for works to help reduce water pollution from agriculture. Grants are currently only available for businesses with land inside a Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) Capital Grant Scheme target area (not the same as a “Priority Catchment”). Applications will be scored using a number of criteria prior to an agreement being offered. Details of this scheme have now been released and are available HERE. The main target areas are north of the M50 around Ledbury / Kempley / Upton Bishop / Much Marcle and also parts of the Cotswolds.
Countryside Productivity Capital Grants – Application Window: 2nd March – 30th April
Applications will be open for grants between £2,500 – £35,000 to cover 40% of the actual costs of investments in specific types of innovative equipment. It is understood that the scheme will be along similar lines to the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme we have had in the past all be it with a smaller pot of money and a higher level of technology investment being aimed for. The full list of funded items will be added here as soon as we have them.
Applications will also be invited for grants over £35,000 for larger projects that may included forestry processing and wood harvesting, crop robotics, controlled atmosphere storage, farm water management and poultry litter drying systems. Once again, as soon as more details are available we will publish them here.