The NFU has welcomed the announcement of Defra’s £5 million project to help farmers protect the water environment.

Under the England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative (ECSFDI), capital grants will help farmers with a proportion of the cost of measures protecting water quality.

Items eligible for funding include livestock drinking bays, farm tracks, roofing for stock gathering areas and watercourse tree planting.

In the 40 priority areas Catchment Sensitive Farming officers (CSFOs) already offer face-to-face advice to farmers and lead workshops encouraging best practice.

Anna Hall, NFU water policy adviser, said: “With recent budget cuts at Defra we are pleased to see this scheme has come to fruition. The grants are an important supplement to the supportive approach of the ECSFDI and will have positive environmental benefits.”

The funding cap has been set at £10,000 per farm. Following NFU requests the money will be allocated to areas of greatest need and CSFOs will be closely involved in this process.

The grant scheme will be launched in April 2007, applications can be submitted until September 30, 2007 and all works must be completed by January 31, 2008.

For more details on Defra’s Capital Grant Scheme go to http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/csf-grantscheme/responses.pdf

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