Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the 7th Window of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Production Grant (SPG)  opened on 1 February 2021 and will close at midnight on 12 March 2021.

The grant provides a maximum 40% contribution towards capital investments in equipment and machinery that have been pre-identified to support farmers to address nutrient management and safeguarding and improving water, soil and air quality by reducing pollution.

The maximum grant award is £50,000 (£125,000 spend) and the minimum is £12,000 (£30,000 spend). Applications are to be made via your Rural Payments Wales (RPW) on-line account. Please follow the links below for more detailed information:-

General Rules Booklet

Silage, Slurry & Oil Storage requirements and List of Eligible Capital Items

If you require further assistance with your EOI, please contact us here at CARA Wales on 01570 471516.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) for the 8th window (Carbon theme) opened on  11th January 2021 and will close at midnight on 19th February 2021. As in previous windows, an existing Glastir contract is NOT NECESSARY  to be eligible.

Glastir Small Grants is a standalone scheme providing a maximum of £7,500 funding per theme for capital works to carry out projects to help improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding. Successful applicants will need to complete the capital works and submit their final claim by 28 February 2022.

Further details, including scheme rules are available by following the links below:-

GSG (Carbon) Capital Works Technical Guidance Booklet

GSG (Carbon) Payment Rates

If you require further assistance with your application via your RPW on-line account, please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516.

A CPH number is the basis for all livestock reporting regimes in Wales. Please follow the links below in order to fully understand the rules relating to livestock movements and an eLearning course and guidance on how to use the Manage My CPH system available on your Rural Payments Wales (RPW) account.

An introduction to CPH

Manage my CPH

If you would like further assistance to register and update your land details using Manage My CPH, please do not hesitate to contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or office@carawales.co.uk

The Welsh Government are consulting on the legislative framework to support a 15 to 20 year vision for Welsh Agriculture. The proposals set out in the White Paper on Agriculture in Wales outline how farmers will be supported to produce food in a sustainable way, and your views are sought on :-

• future support for agriculture
• regulatory reform
• future support for industry and the supply chain
• forestry and woodland management
• improving animal health and welfare
• improving monitoring through the effective use of data and remote technology

Follow the link here to view the Consultation Document and to respond either online, by email or by post. The White Paper is open for consultation until 26 March 2021.

The FBG Yard Coverings Scheme is being offered to help pay for yard coverings and improved drainage systems for buildings. The first Expression of Interest (EOI) window is due to open on 9 November and will run for 6 weeks until 18 December 2020. A second application round is scheduled to open on 18 May 2021.

Welsh Government have now issue detailed guidance on the new Scheme- these can be accessed by following the links below:-

General Rules Booklet & List of Eligible items

How to use Rural Payments Wales (RPW) to apply

Geotagged photo guidance

If you are interested in the Scheme or wish to clarify anything, please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or email office@carawales.co.uk

• Same principles as old FBG. Standard cost for items. £3000 minimum grant (£7,500 spend) and £12,000 maximum grant (£30,000 spend) but starting from a clean slate now. As previously, producers must have a turnover of less than £1m.
• Standard cost of £90/m2 (£8.36/ft2) of roof covering @ 40% grant – so grant of £36/m2 (in theory min roofing area 83m2 and max roofing area 333m2)
• There will be 5 types of roof areas with different scores – covering livestock feeding areas, covering manure stores, covering silage stores, covering slurry stores and covering gathering areas.
• Scores for each item are then multiplied by the water quality and water quantity area you are in -as determined by Welsh Government.
• There are additional items available such as guttering & downpipes, sleeping policemen, slurry analysis kit, but these will not effect the score at all. They could however be used to get you to the minimum spend.
• You will need to submit geo-tagged BEFORE photos of the area to be roofed with the EOI – 3 photos if possible
• Farmers will have 12 months from date of issue of Contract to complete the works and submit a claim.
• It must be new roofing – not second hand. You can build it yourself, but if you do, an engineer’s certificate must be provided.
• At the Claim stage, you will be required to submit confirmation re. planning permission and SUDS (deals with surface water on developments over 100sqm), letter from Accountant re £1m turnover, invoices for shed / materials and geo-tagged AFTER photos

The AFTER geo-tagged photos will also need to show that the clean water from the new roof is diverted to a clean water drain, and that the slurry from the yard area is directed to the slurry pit.

Are you a Dairy Farm Owner or Manager?

The RABDF would like you to complete a short 10-minute survey to gauge the severity of the labour issue on UK dairy farms. Last month (29 Sept), the Government announced new immigration rules being imposed from January 2021 which will see access to foreign labour restricted.

Please click on the link below for details of how to complete the survey. CLOSING DATE 20/11/2020.

RABDF

Due to an expanding workload, we are currently looking for an additional Agricultural Consultant as well as an Office Manager to become  members of the CARA Team. Please click on the links below for a job description and details of how to apply. Closing date: 20 November 2020.

CARA AGRICULTURAL CONSULTANT_

CARA OFFICE MANAGER

NEGES BWYSIG   IMPORTANT MESSAGE

The BPS 2020 Support Scheme is now available to businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As in the previous two years, the Scheme will again pay a loan of up to 90% of the anticipated value of your 2020 claim – payment will be made during week commencing 7 December 2020. You are encouraged to consider applying in case of a long delay in processing your claim.

It is an OPT IN scheme, and you need to apply via your RPW Online account – the application window is open from 1 September until 27 November 2020.

• For those CARA clients who pay us the annual fee (£100 + VAT) to regularly check for messages on their RPW account – we will automatically apply for the 2020 Support Scheme on your behalf AT NO EXTRA CHARGE.
• For all other clients, should you wish CARA to apply for you, then please email or telephone us, giving your farm name  and Customer Reference Number (CRN)  – as on your RPW a/c – BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE (27/11/20). A CHARGE of £10 for this service will subsequently be added to your 2021 SAF invoice.

email: office@carawales.co.uk

Tel: 01570 471516

Welsh Government has launched a consultation seeking views on proposals to continue and simplify agricultural support for Welsh farmers from 2021.

Click here to view the consultation document and to respond online or to download a response form to complete and return by email or post. Comments must be submitted by 23 October 2020.

An additional layer of security is being introduced from 3 August 2020 for RPW Online Customers, known as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

Step by step guidance is available by following the link to the Welsh Government website.