Welsh Rural Development Schemes February 17, 2016 12:00 am The Welsh Government has launched a number of grant schemes under its Rural Development Programme. Five schemes will open for applications on the 29th February and a further one in March. These are set out below; There will be a further round of the Sustainable Production Grant which offers 40% grants towards on farm facilities and equipment. The minimum grant is £16,000 and maximum is £200,000. The closing date for applications is 25th April. The budget for this round in £6m. This compares to £2m in the first round where only 12 farmers (out of the 270 that applied) received funding. For details see – http://gov.wales/topics/environmentcountryside/farmingandcountryside/cap/ruraldevelopment/wales-rural-development-programme-2014-2020/sustainable-production-grant-scheme/?lang=en. The Welsh Government is still working on the Glastir Small Grant Scheme – details are expected in the spring or summer. The Food Business Investment Scheme has £14m of funding and is also open until the 25th April. Its aim is to help farmers invest in equipment that will allow them to process and add value to their output. A new Sustainable Management Scheme will support groups of farmers coming together to deliver ‘landscape-scale’ projects to improve the environment. The £5m scheme has a closing date of the 7th May. The £4m Rural Community Development Fund aims to tackle poverty in rural areas of Wales. The Timber Business Investment Scheme has £2m to improve woodland management and increase the value of the woodland products. The closing date is 23rd May. In additional, extra funds will be made available under the Glastir Woodland Creation and Woodland Restoration schemes. On the 19th March the Co-operation and Supply Chain Development Scheme will open (closing on the 9th May). This has £6m of funding to support the development of new products or processes in the agriculture, forestry and food sectors. Even with these announcements many in Wales are disillusioned with the roll out of the RDP schemes, with too little money available to too few farmers. The maximum pillar transfer was made in Wales but the money available so far to the farming sector has been limited. Glastir Entry Despite this flurry of activity, the Glastir Entry scheme will not be available in 2016. The Welsh Government has indicated that it will not be accepting applications to this scheme during 2016. Speaking at the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 Start of Term event in Swansea, Rebecca Evans, Deputy Minister for Food and farming said that funding would be moved away from broad-based whole farm schemes. There was concern over the lack of an application window in 2015, but there has been an angry reaction from the farming industry to this announcement and a feeling ofbetrayal by many farmers, who will now struggle to part of an agri-environment scheme, especially as about 1,600 Glastir Entry contracts will finish at the end of the year.
