Last chance for £25m small grants scheme in England
© Tim Scrivener Time is running out for farmers in England to apply for the third and final round of the popular Countryside Productivity Small Grants Scheme.
The deadline for applications is noon on 4 November 2020.
The scheme offers grants of £3,000-£12,000 to individual farmers to help pay for equipment, ranging from livestock handling systems and monitoring cameras to precision farming technology for arable farmers.
See also: £25m equipment grant opens for third and final time
The funding covers up to 40% of equipment costs, so the minimum total value of kit purchased is £7,500 and the maximum is £30,000.
All equipment types must be chosen from a specified list of eligible items that are set out in guidance notes on the government’s website.
Although this is the final round of the small grants scheme, powers have been included in the Agriculture Bill to allow the government to provide financial assistance to support farmers to invest in equipment in the future.
Further detail on the support available from 2021 is due to be released later this year.