Rural grants of £60m go up for grabs for Herefordshire farmers (From Hereford Times)

Rural grants of £60m go up for grabs for Herefordshire farmers

7:00am Sunday 12th February 2012 in Farming

HEREFORDSHIRE farmers have a chance to benefit from a multi-million pound grant scheme.

From the end of February the Rural Economy Grant Scheme, worth up to £60 million in total, will be launched.

The scheme will deliver grants of up to £1m, aimed at micro and SME businesses to boost farm competiveness and support significant growth in particular for agri-food, rural tourism, forestry, renewable energy and high growth sectors.

The Rural Economy Grant is another measure to be introduced under the Rural Development Program for England and adds to the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS) launched in November.

The FFIS is a scheme of support, developed to help farming, forestry and horticultural businesses in England to become more efficient at using resources. There is £20m available under FFIS until December 2013.

The grants are for capital items and the grant rate available is up to 40 per cent in non upland areas, and up to 50 per cent in upland areas and the maximum grant allowable per project is £25,000. The minimum grant is £2,500.

Ashley Lilley, of Savills which has worked with rural clients to access funding under previous schemes, said: “The Rural Economy Grant Scheme and FFIS offer a golden opportunity to get new ideas off the ground for farming and other rural business.”