England – Farming Recovery Programme Reopens
The Farming Recovery Programme recently re-opened for selected areas of England, benefiting from a further £6 million in funding to assist farmers with land damaged by the Winter’s significant flooding.
For the first time since the scheme was established, it includes Herefordshire, as well as areas of Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Land in Herefordshire needs to have been directly affected by flooding from either the Rivers Wye, Lugg, Teme and/or Arrow, sadly other rivers which also caused flooding and significant damage have not been included.
The minimum grant is £500 and the maximum available is £25,000. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 1st September 2020.
Applications are now online, and on entering your business SBI, you will be able to tell straightaway if you are eligible for the scheme or not.
Only certain uninsurable recover works are eligible including:
- Repairing stone walls, fences, gates and gateways, tracks and bridges
- Restoring land by removing debris, re-cultivating and reseeding with grass or cover crop
In most instances of repair, both before and after photographic evidence will be required, without which it may not be possible to submit your claim. Work that has already been completed can be claimed against, providing the photographic evidence is available.
The scheme offers standard and reference costs for repairing infrastructure such as boundaries and gates, this means that it will not be necessary to submit invoices or bank statements as evidence, but photos and plans will be required. Fencing with sheep netting is paid at £4.90/m, a galvanised metal field gate at £288 and livestock troughs at £110/unit.
For matters such as re-cultivation and reseeding the scheme has a maximum price for land recovery; farmers may complete the works themselves and use the set price listed in the guidance, or they can use a contractor, and submit the invoice as evidence. The grant will be capped at the maximum cost.
Quotes from contractors will need to be obtained for the instances of reinstating tracks and bridges. If this is the case then the application will need to be submitted as a hard copy and cannot be done online.
Should you require assistance with applying for the Farming Recovery Scheme and any further advice about grants, please contact Ellie Watkins on 07496 006808 or ellie@agriadvisor.co.uk