Unsuccessful applicants to the first tranche of the Tier 1 capital grant scheme element of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS) will be given no preferential treatment if the second tranche of the scheme is also oversubscribed.

Details of the second tranche of Tier 1, which opens in January 2018, were released by DAERA on Tuesday, with assessment of applications the same as last year.

Farmers applying for the second time for the 40% grant funding for investments costing between £5,000 and £30,000 will have to complete a new application. This includes receiving a new letter of support from a bank dated after 10 December 2017, and re-taking the online safety course on the DAERA website with certification dated after 1 December 2017.

Approximately 2,000 applicants were unsuccessful in the first tranche last December. Letters of offer were issued to 1,521 applicants and first-tranche claims are forecast to be worth £7.2m. Around £7.5m of funding is expected to be made available for the second tranche.

Maximum claim

Farmers are only allowed to claim a maximum of £12,000 of grant funding from Tier 1 across all tranches of the scheme, including any future tranches. So if a farmer was successful the first time around, but did not use up all of the £12,000, there is nothing to stop them applying again, as long as the total grant sought (across the first and second tranche) works out at below this maximum.

However, applicants who are successful in the second tranche of Tier 1 cannot apply for the second tranche of Tier 2 (for projects over £30,000). But, they can apply for subsequent Tier 2 tranches and avail of a £250,000 grant aid limit across both Tier 1 and Tier 2 over the lifetime of the current Rural Development Programme.

Items

There are 193 items eligible for the 40% grant funding this time, up from 160 items in the first tranche. New items include covers for above ground slurry stores, but certain items have been sub-divided in the revised list for more accurate reference prices. For example, calf igloos are now across two items with minimum capacities of six and 15 calves, instead of just six calves in the first tranche.

Fencing is again included in the scheme for double fencing at boundaries, permanent electrified fencing and standard permanent fencing to sub-divide paddocks. Drainage was not included in the first tranche of Tier 1 and is again omitted in this tranche.

Applications open on 4 January and close at 4pm on 2 February and assessment of applications is based on the same selection criteria marks as last year. A minimum of 40 marks is required, with applications ranked by score if the second tranche is oversubscribed.

Marks

Each item is listed with a reference price and a band number from one to three, based on how well each item meets the themes of the scheme. Band one is worth 40 marks, band two is worth 34 and band three is worth 28 marks.

Applications with multiple items will be given marks based on the lowest band item.

Up to 39 marks are available for “value for money” where the cost of an item from a supplier is 20% below the reference price.For items costing less than 20% below the reference price, 1.95 marks are awarded for each 1% of grant sought below the reference.

Marks are also available for online applications (11 marks), farmers aged 40 or less on 3 January 2018 (five marks) and farmers with at least a level two qualification in agriculture (five marks).

Applicants are not to purchase items until a letter of offer has been received.