Farmers are being offered a share in Government funding of £34m to better manage slurry storage and to store and use water more efficiently, as a key part of a new Plan for Water.
With and estimated half of slurry stores in England not being fit for purpose, the grants will provide farmers with between £25,000-£250,000 to build, replace or expand storage and can contribute towards a range of solutions like lagoons, steel and concrete ring tanks and large slurry bags.
More than 1,200 applications were received for the first round of the grant. Defra wants to help as many farms as possible to upgrade their slurry storage, but needs to balance the high demand for grants with the capacity of slurry store suppliers to increase production.
374 projects have been invited to submit a full application for a share of £33.9 million in funding – up from £13.2 million when the grant was first announced last year. This is based on an assessment of what the market could handle following conversations with suppliers and installers and considering the types of store farmers have applied for.
Better management of slurry from farming means less pollution washing off into rivers when it rains, says the Government. More investment into water supply will mean farmers are more prepared for climate change impacts – from reservoirs to better irrigation.
The money comes from the first round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant – more than two-and-a-half times the original budget. The government will also publish the guidance for the second round of the Water Management Grant, which will open for applications later in April and provide £10m in funding to help farmers manage their water use through better irrigation and more on-farm reservoirs.
The government’s new Plan for Water covers the quality of the water environment – how clean it is – and water resources – how much of it we have. It will transform the whole water system – tackling every source of pollution, including from storm overflows, agriculture, plastics, road run-off, chemicals and pesticides, as well as the pressures on our water supply as a result of hotter, drier summers and population growth.
Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: “Communities across the country want to see clean and plentiful water in our rivers and streams, and farmers have a huge role in helping to deliver this.
“We know that farmers want to do the right thing, which is why – as part of today’s Plan for Water – we’re providing even more funding for farmers both to reduce their water pollution from slurry and better manage the water on their farms.”
The second round of the Water Management Grant will see £10m in funding made available for farmers to improve farm productivity through more efficient use of water for irrigation, and to secure water supplies for crop irrigation by constructing on-farm reservoirs and adopting best practice irrigation application equipment.
Grants will be available for between £35,000 and £500,000, which will ensure that funding supports farms of all sizes while committing to supporting higher value projects which align with the fund’s objectives. The grant will be open later in April with an online checker available to help farmers determine their eligibility and likelihood of success.
