The Expression of Interest (EOI) window for Small Grants -Environment is 09 January to 17 February 2023 (extended to 03 March 2023).

This round of Small Grants -Environment will address the theme of Hedgerow creation, and is a standalone scheme providing a maximum of £7,500 funding per business for Capital Works Projects.

The Hedgerow creation option is eligible in the following locations:

• Along existing field boundaries where no hedgerow had previously been located.
• Within fields, to establish new boundaries.
• On hedge banks (earth banked and stone-faced earth banks) where no woody hedge plant remnants exist along the entire length to be planted.
• On existing hedge banks where some woody hedge plant remnants exist. (There would be substantial gaps between these remnants, and they would not be subject to mechanical trimming)
• On existing hedge banks where there are some existing mature trees that are retained. (Not a continuous row of trees)
• To plant gaps within existing hedgerows which are 20m or longer.

This option is not eligible where:

• There are continuous woody hedge plants along the whole length of the proposed planting area.
• There is a continuous row of existing mature trees.
• Existing remnants of a hedge have been mechanically cut or trimmed to maintain a hedgerow feature.
• To plant gaps within existing hedgerows which are less than 20m.

New fencing will only be paid where it protects a newly planted section of hedgerow.

Capital Works projects must be claimed for and submitted with before and after geo-tagged photos by 31/03/2024.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) window for the Spring Sown Growing for the Environment is now open and will close on 18^th November 2022. The minimum grant award is equivalent to the payment rate for 1ha of eligible crop,and the maximum grant is £5,000. EOI’s must be submitted via your RPW account – for more detailed information, please refer to the Rules Booklet (link below), in particular pages 21 and 39-56 (Annex B).

Growing for Environment Rules Booklet

There are options within the Scheme to grow the following crops:-

Mixed leys – Payment Rate £276/ha
Establish a mixed ley, comprising minimum 5 grass species, 3 legume species and 3 herb species.
(Species not individual varieties within species)
Minimum seed rate 25 kg / ha.

Red clover or Lucerne – Payment £229/ha
Establish a Red clover or Lucerne ley.
Mixtures of red clover cultivars are permitted.
Red clover can be sown as a monoculture or in combination with ryegrass.

Protein crops – Payment £234/ha
Establish and harvest a protein crop with no weed control.
Eligible crops: Field beans, peas, lupins.

Unsprayed root or forage crop – Payment £118/ha
Establish an unsprayed root or forage crop.
Eligible crops: Swedes, Fodder beets, White turnips, Soft yellow turnips, Hardy yellow turnips, Brassicas, Forage rape, Chicory.

Unsprayed spring sown cereals – Payment £162/ha
Establish an unsprayed, spring-sown cereal crop.
Eligible crops: Barley, Wheat, Oats, Triticale, Rye.

Unsprayed spring cereals under sown with mixed ley – Payment £297/ha
Establish an unsprayed, spring-sown cereal crop,under sown with a mixed ley seed mixture.
Eligible crops: Barley, Wheat, Oats, Triticale, Rye.
Under sown mixed ley, comprising maximum 5 grass and a minimum of 3 legume and 3 herb species.

Unsprayed cereal and protein crop mix – Payment £173/ha
Establish an unsprayed, spring-sown cereal / protein crop mix.
Eligible crops: Barley, Wheat, Oats, Triticale, Rye / Field beans, peas, lupins, vetches.
Seed mixture to comprise 50% cereal and 50% protein seed by weight.

Unsprayed cereal and protein crop under sown with mixed ley –  Payment £302/ha
Establish an unsprayed, spring-sown cereal / protein crop mix.
Eligible crops: Barley, Wheat, Oats, Triticale, Rye /Field beans, peas, lupins,
Seed mixture to comprise of 50% cereal and 50% protein crop by weight.
Under sown mixed ley, comprising maximum 5 grass and a minimum of 3 legume and 3 herb species.

Under sowing maize (Spring /summer sown) – Payment £85/ha
Establish a cover crop within a growing maize crop.
Seed mixture to include a minimum of 2 crop species which are suitable for growing within the shade of a maize crop.

If you would like further assistance with your application, please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or by email on ofice@carawales.co.uk

The Nutrient Management Investment Scheme is a capital grant scheme to support investments which enhance on-farm nutrient management to include;-

• Slurry Storage
• Covered Manure Storage
• Silage Clamps
• Dirty Water Tanks
• Roofing for yards/slurry stores
• Slurry Spreading Equipment

The Expression of Interest (EoI) window opened on 04 July 2022 and will run until 12 August 2022. If selected, you must be able to complete and claim all Capital Works items by 31 March 2025. The minimum grant award of 40% (against actual invoiced costs)  is £12,000 (£30,000 spend) and the maximum is £50,000 (£125,000 spend).

You are advised to realistically estimate the cost for each investment submitted on your EoI as, if selected, any grant award will not be higher than that on your EoI, and a EoI total grant value over the maximum will be capped to £50,000.

You will know by the end of August 2022 if your EoI is successful – if you accept, you will then have 12 weeks to submit your full application and supporting documents via your RPW a/c. If you require further assistance or information, please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or email office@carawales.co.uk

Please click on the following documents for more detailed information:-

Nutrient Management Investment Scheme -Guidance

Nutrient Management Investment Scheme – List of eligible capital items

The Small Grants – Yard Coverings Scheme is being offered to help pay for yard coverings and improved drainage systems for buildings. The Expression of Interest (EoI) window opened on 27 June 2022 amd will run until 05 August 2022.

Detailed guidance on this Scheme can be accessed from the link below:-

General Rules Booklet & List of Eligible items

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

• Standard cost for items. £3000 minimum grant (£7,500 spend) and £12,000 maximum grant (£30,000 spend). If you have previously applied for Farm Business Grant Yard Coverings, the total grant received will NOT count towards the maximum grant available through the Small Grants -Yard Coverings Scheme.
• For existing livestock feeding areas, livestock gathering areas and manure storage areas,
  applicants must demonstrate the whole area has a floor impermeable to water e.g. concrete.
• Existing flooring will need to be shown in the EoI application using geo-tagged photographs. If floor is
  covered in slurry or manure, the appropriate area needs to be washed prior to taking
  photos.
• Farmers will have 12 months from date of issue of Contract to complete the works and submit a claim.
• At the Claim stage, you will be required to submit confirmation re. planning permission and SUDS (deals with surface water on developments over 100sqm),  invoices for all claimed items and geo-tagged photos of the roofed area and supported items after the investment has been completed.

The AFTER 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.

Growing for the Environment is a grant scheme available to all eligible farmers in Wales. The scheme supports the growing and utilisation of crops, which can result in improvements in the environmental performance of a farm business.The Expression of Interest (EOI) window opened on 20 June 2022 and will close on 29 July 2022.

The maximum grant award is £5,000. The minimum grant award is equivalent to the payment rate of £117/ 1 ha of
eligible crop which is to remain in the ground until 15 February 2023.Your application may exceed the maximum grant. If your EoI is selected, the related claim will be capped to the maximum £5,000.

The Contract for this window will end 30 April 2023, all claims to be submitted by this date. Please follow the link below for a copy of the detailed rules booklet, and contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 if you require assistance with your application.

https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/pdf-versions/2022/6/3/1656511419/growing-environment-rules-booklet.pdf

Please follow the link below for opening & closing dates for rural schemes April to October 2022. Further details to follow on our website near to the opening dates of each.

https://gov.wales/rural-schemes-application-dates

Ar y 25ain o Fehefin eleni, aeth tîm cwmni CARA  ati i ddringo tri chopa Cymru, sef Yr Wyddfa, Cadair Idris a Phen-y-fan mewn 24awr. Roedd hi’n ymdrech arwrol gan y tîm, a hynny ar ddiwrnod gwlypaf yr Haf!

Hoffwn ddiolch i bawb am eu cefnogaeth a’u cyfraniadau caredig, ac hefyd i Fanc Lloyds  am eu nawdd. Pleser mawr oedd cael cyflwyno siec o £3500 yr un i’r ddwy Elusen sef Tir Dewi ac Ambiwlans Awyr Cymru.

On the 25^th June this year, the CARA team undertook the challenge of climbing the Welsh 3 Peaks of Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen-y-fan in 24hrs. It was a great team effort on what was probably the wettest day of the Summer!

We would like to thank everyone for their kind support and sponsorship and also to Lloyds Bank  for their contribution. It gave us great pleasure to present a cheque for £3500 each to the two Charities of Tir Dewi and Wales Air Ambulance.

Air Ambulance Certificate

Expressions of Interest for the  Farm Business Grant (FBG)  opens today 1 September 2021 and will close at midnight on 1 October 2021. It will provide farmers in Wales with a 40% contribution towards capital investments in equipment and machinery that have been pre-identified as offering clear and quantifiable benefits to farm enterprises. The minimum grant available is £3,000 and the maximum is £12,000.

If you have applied and were successful in other rounds of FBG, please note that the grant allocated to you previously will be taken into account in determining the maximum grant available of £12,000.

Applications are to be made via your Rural Payments Wales on-line account. Follow the link below for a full list of eligible items linked to animal health, genetics and performance; crop management; energy efficiency; resource efficiency and ICT.

https://carawales.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0833b6be8b5dd4416d26ce562&id=279e3d636a&e=018fb5a39e

Please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or office@carawales.co.uk if you require assistance with your application.

The FBG Yard Coverings Scheme is being offered to help pay for yard coverings and improved drainage systems for buildings. The second Expression of Interest (EOI) window  opened on 18 May 2021 and will run until 25 June 2021.

Detailed guidance on this Scheme 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 4 geo-tagged BEFORE photos of the area to be roofed with the EOI
• 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.