The Farmers’ Union of Wales is calling on farmers to be aware of the looming September 30 deadline for submitting an expression of interest application form for the Sustainable Production Grant (SPG).
FUW president Glyn Roberts, said: “It’s vitally important that farmers don’t miss out on this opportunity to access monies from the sustainable production grant as this is a chance for farmers to receive funds designed to aid them in investing in the future sustainability of their farms.
“The FUW was extremely disappointed by the decision to transfer the maximum 15 percent of pillar 1 monies into pillar 2 and we would therefore urge members to make sure they use every opportunity to claw some of this money back in a meaningful way,” added Mr Roberts.
The purpose of the scheme is to provide investment in order to improve performance and sustainability of agricultural holdings. However, the union is concerned that many farmers remain unaware of the scheme and, as such, have not considered the impending deadline to submit an interest.
There are five key investment themes, that will be considered - animal health and welfare; crop storage; production housing and handling; renewable energy production and soil and crop management. The minimum grant threshold per enterprise for any individual investment project is £16,000. The maximum grant threshold per enterprise for any individual investment project is £400,000.
The application is a two stage process whereby successful expression of interest applicants will then be invited to submit full applications. The window for full applications is expected to open on November 30, 2015, with May 31, 2016 being the deadline for submission.