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The second tranche of Tier 1 of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS), for projects costing between £5,000 to £30,000, will open to applications on 4 January 2018.
The capital grant element of FBIS allows 40% grant funding and Tier 1 is for specific equipment and machinery from a list of eligible items.
DAERA has said that more information on the second tranche of Tier 1 will be available on their website when the scheme is launched in mid-December. This includes a revised list of eligible items from the first tranche of the scheme.
Applications for the second tranche of Tier 1 will open on 4 January 2018 and will close at 4pm on 2 February 2018. Countryside Services will again administer the scheme on behalf of DAERA.
The department has said that grant support for the scheme will be subject to funding, but it is envisaged £7.5m will be available for the second tranche of Tier 1.
This is a similar amount to the first tranche of the scheme when 1,521 applicants were issued letters of offer. Around 3,500 Tier 1 applications were received last December, with approximately 2,000 applicants missing out on the 40% grant funding. New applications will be needed for the second tranche of the scheme.
DAERA has said that £5.5m of grant aid has been issued under the first tranche of Tier 1 to date, with total claims expected to be worth £7.2m.
Tier 2
The first letters of offer for the first tranche of Tier 2, for projects costing over £30,000, were issued to applicants at the end of October.
“A second tranche of Tier 2 of FBIS-Capital is also planned, but it is not possible at this stage to be specific about the timing. Decisions on this will be subject to a review of the lessons learned from the first tranche and funding availability,” DAERA said on Friday.
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