Farmers face tough calls, but funding is there to help

The time has come to take a short but well-deserved intake of breath as show season is upon us. Our recent whiskytasting event was testament to the local farming communities’ desire to get back out there.

While a brief respite from spring work is welcomed, the stresses of running a business are always there with many farmers contemplating what the future holds.

As the UK public struggle with inflation nearing 10%, Scottish farmers – according to farm business consultants Andersons – are faced with agri inflation of 30% with high feed, fuel and fertiliser prices the main culprits.

While the die is cast for 2022 there will be some tough decisions to be made this back end.

Arguably, with wheat futures for November 2022 still north of £330 at the time of writing and 34.5N back to a “reasonable” £630 compared to the dreaded £900 in early spring, the numbers for many still stack up.

However, industries such as poultry, pigs and soft fruit face greater uncertainty with the additional fear of a lack of migrant labour this summer due to the current conflict in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, opportunity lurks around every corner if you look for it.

As government targets for carbon neutral become a reality there is financial aid out there in terms of grant funding.

In addition, diversification is always talked about but now more than ever farmers I speak to are looking land and thinking what else can I do, be it agritourism or fieldto-fork supply chain.

I have outlined three grant schemes currently open.

Firstly, the new round of Food Processing Marketing and Cooperation Grant scheme opened with the deadline for submissions being June 19. The scheme is set up to provide grant funding to Scotland’s food and drinks sector including agricultural to encourage people to buy and eat fresh local healthy food.

What is fresher than milk direct from the local dairy farmer or lamb butchered and sold on-site at a farm?

The grant is available for food processing businesses with millions invested in earlier rounds. Eligible costs range from the capital purchase of land to buying machinery and marketing and innovation aid. Applications are made through the rural payments website.

The second aims to reduce the environmental impact of farming through the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme or (SACGS) which launched at the end of April and closes for applications on June 1.

SACGS provides support for businesses so they can invest in equipment to reduce the impact of storing and spreading slurry and digestate.

The scheme is set to support 40% of eligible costs up to £20,000 per business on the purchase of new equipment. Items that qualify range from slurry store covers to dribble bars and shallow injection systems at a cost of £30,000.

Finally for those farms involved in agritourism, the Electric Vehicle Charge Point Tourism Recovery Fund is open with applications to be made by September 8. The grant supports up to 75% of the installation cost of any onsite EV charging point up to a maximum £15,000. The charge point must be made available for resident or guest use – not staff only.

Some will be right for the business and some won’t. Farming business should just make sure that any opportunity doesn’t pass them by.

Mark Gibson is a partner with Thomson Cooper accountants.

AID: Grant funding is available to reduce the impact of slurry spreading.