More than 800 farm business have applied for a share of over £20 million from two support schemes.
In April, The Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, confirmed two funding schemes to support investment in on farm infrastructure, which will help to improve soil, air and water quality, build resilience to the potential impact of climate change and reach compliance with the Water Resources Regulations.
Both schemes are designed to enable farmers to improve slurry management by providing support for additional storage capacity and/or prevent rainwater entering slurry stores to reduce storage capacity requirement.
A high number of applications were received for infrastructure support. Grant Awards with a value of £1.06m have already been accepted under the Yard Coverings scheme and more than 700 Expressions of Interest have been received for the Nutrient Management Investment scheme.
Even though there was a higher-than-expected demand, all eligible applicants to the Nutrient Management Investment Scheme are being invited to progress to the next stage and will need to submit their full applications by 9 December 2024.
The Deputy First Minister said:
I’m very pleased there has been such a high level of interest in these schemes with more than 800 farm businesses applying for support. This will enable them to build resilience to extreme weather conditions - and help to improve water quality in our rivers and their tributaries.
Public awareness of the state of our rivers has never been higher. This puts the agricultural sector in a powerful position to help improve the quality of our river environment.
Farmers, landowners and agricultural businesses are at the forefront of this effort, and so it’s essential that we give them the support to develop sustainable practices and innovative solutions.
Over the past year we have seen the impact the wet weather has had on agriculture - which also shows the importance of investing in resilience.
Our future generations will be farming in much more challenging conditions. We must act today to adapt and respond to these challenges - taking steps to build resilience to the potential impacts of climate change.
I would encourage all those who have been selected to submit their full applications and take full advantage of the funding that’s available.