Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant Scheme Opening Soon!

Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant Scheme Image For Blog

It’s that time of the year where Farmers need to start thinking about the Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant Scheme. The application window opens in February and closes in April 2021 with early engagement essential.

Hedgerow and Boundary, Water Quality and new Air Quality capital grants are available for up to £20,000 each or up to £60,000 if you’re applying for all three. Catchment Sensitive Farming Officer approval will be required for both the Water Quality and Air Quality grants.

Water Quality grant items include but are not limited to:

  • Concrete yard renewal for up to £27.14m2
  • Roofing over feeding and handling areas, as well as slurry, muck and silage stores for up to £62m2
  • Livestock and machinery hardcore tracks for up to £33m2
  • Livestock troughs for up to £110 per trough

Air Quality grant items include but are not limited to:

  • Low ammonia emission flooring for livestock buildings
  • Automatic slurry scrapers
  • Self supporting covers for slurry stores
  • Shelter belt tree planting to intercept or reduce emissions

Hedgerow and Boundary grant items include but are not limited to:

  • Hedgerow gapping up
  • Stone wall renewal including provision of the stone from a quarry
  • In hedge tree planting

For more information on the Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant Scheme please contact one of our dedicated rural and environmental agents below:

Carlisle: 01228 548385

Keswick: 017687 72988

Galashiels: 01896 751300

Berwick: 01289 304432

Kendal: 01539 769790

Windermere: 015394 48811

Going forwards…

The government will continue to offer the Countryside Stewardship agreements in 2021, 2022 and 2023, however the Countryside Stewardship will eventually be replaced with the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. This will follow trialling and testing and a national pilot involving farmers and land managers. The full ELM scheme will be in place from 2024.

Signing up to a Countryside Stewardship agreement now will put you in the best possible position to join ELM. What’s more it will give you a viable, long-term source of income for providing environmental benefits as BPS payments start to reduce. If you are successful in securing a place in ELM, then you can terminate your Countryside Stewardship agreement early, without penalty, at the end of an agreement year so you can join the ELM scheme.

Our committed rural and environmental agents are here to help navigate you through this years Countryside Stewardship Scheme as well as the future years changes moving forwards.