The 40% capital grant scheme, as part of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS), is to be opened to farmers next March, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill said last week.

The minister was speaking at a conference on farming in peripheral areas organised by Sinn Féin MEP for the Midlands, North and West, Matt Carthy in Milford, Co Donegal, on Friday.

“Knowledge transfer is being made available to identify their business needs; then the capital grant scheme will come online in March.

‘‘CAFRE advisers are on the ground to help farmers make these decisions,” she said.

Applications for farmers to join business development groups as part of the knowledge transfer element of FBIS opened on Monday (9 November), but participation in this phase of the scheme is not compulsory to avail of the capital grant scheme opening next year.

Despite that, Minister O’Neill has encouraged farmers to join the groups.

“In these difficult times, it is crucial that the industry takes advantage of every opportunity to learn how to boost their businesses and develop tailor-made plans, so that they get the most out of such funding schemes,” she said.

Funding

The £200m capital grant scheme is being funded by the NI Rural Development Programme (RDP).

The scheme will be available in two tranches, one for projects from £5,000 to £30,000 and the second for projects from £30,000 to a maximum grant of £250,000.

Support will be in the form of a 40% grant with potentially a larger 50% grant being made available for applicants that are eligible young farmers under 40 with a level two qualification in agriculture.

Friday’s conference, which was attended by around 40 delegates, heard from various farm organisations from across Ireland, as well as speakers from Portugal and the Basque Country.

Closing the event, Matt Carthy said: “We cannot have rural development without agriculture at the heart of it, supporting vibrant family farms.”