A new £20 million fund to help farming, forestry and horticultural businesses to become more efficient at using resources has been launched.

The scheme aims to help businesses to become more competitive and more profitable, whilst reducing the impact of farming on the environment.

The Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme will fund projects that:
• save energy and reduce carbon emissions;
• reduce dependence on artificial fertilizers through better use of manures;
• improve soil quality
• improve animal health and welfare
• save and recycle water
• promote woodland management by processing timber more efficiently.

The focus areas for the Fund are:
• projects to improve the sustainability of British farming in areas of deprivation
• projects to improve the sustainability of rural communities
• projects to reconnect people with the countryside.

The total amount of funding available in each round is approximately £250,000. The maximum level of funding for individual projects will be £50,000. The Fund can pay for a portion or the entirety of the costs of a project and applications for capital, project and resource funding will be considered.

Research undertaken by the bank has revealed that agricultural businesses are now keen to benefit from government support tariffs. More than a third of farmers would like to install renewable energy projects on their land during the coming year, and hope to generate average annual returns of £25,000.

Britain aims to generate 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with 7.4% reached in 2010. The Barclays survey of 300 agricultural customers indicated that four out of five farmers recognise how renewable energy can save costs and 60% see it as a source of additional income.

The funding provider expects around 80-90% of projects will be solar and wind farms as they are cheapest to build and their costs are forecast to drop by up to 50% in the next three to five years as demand rises and technology improves. Barclays states that the cost of installing renewable energy projects can be recovered after around ten years.

Livestock grazing is an essential part of the management process, but of course, in order to afford animals to graze, there needs to be a market to sustain livestock production. The Rural Development Programme operating in the Norfolk Coast and Broads area has included in their funding strategy livestock grazing of flood plains and marshes.

While routine maintenance and management of the land and cattle cannot be funded, grants are available for promotion and other activities that support grazing schemes through stimulating a market for the produce.

So if you are a livestock producer and grazier, there is an opportunity for you to open up new markets for quality products from animals that have grazed on rich pastures in the local countryside.

To qualify your project needs to be within the Norfolk Coast and Broads boundary (see website for map), must be a new or enhanced activity, and deliver benefits to the area.

If you are planning a project, the first stage is to visit the website to find out more details about the programme. If you believe you are eligible for funding, you should download a Project Ideas Form and fill it in. This form captures an outline of what you want to do, why you want to do it, how much it will cost and how much funding you are looking for.

This celebration of all that is best about food that is grown, reared, caught or made in North Norfolk, will take place in the Courtyard of Holkham Hall, home of the Earl of Leicester, on Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th September 2010.

During the Festival, up to 60 of North Norfolk’s finest food producers will be offering tastings and goods for sale.

Over an evening and a day, the conference will take on the key issues that need to be addressed by new entrants and those with whom they will work to create a sustainable, successful industry – whether or not those partnerships are within families.

Conference dinner: 17th May
Full Conference: 18th May
Venue: Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG

These events are aimed at current CSS,ESA and ELS agreement holders whose agreements are due to expire shortly and those interested in environmental stewardship, but have not yet entered ELS