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A fourth tranche of the Tier 1 Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS) will open for applications on 27 September 2022, Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has announced.
The scheme provides grant aid of up to 40% for items costing between £5,000 and £30,000.
The £10m fund is less than that for tranche three when £15m was made available to cover just under 3,000 valid claims.
However, it is understood that not all farmers proceeded to make purchases under tranche three, in part due to increases in prices and also delays in getting equipment from suppliers, so that has freed up some funding for a further tranche of the scheme.
Across the first three tranches of Tier 1, around £26m of grant funding has been paid out to over 4,000 farmers.
Competitive
As previously, the latest tranche involves a competitive process, with items given a points score.
In a statement, Minister Poots said that he wanted to assist farm businesses in dealing with the impacts of higher input costs.
As a result, marks will be increased for some items, including equipment for “grassland management, silage quality, feed efficiency, precision farming and related activities”.
Applications for tranche four must be made by 4pm on Friday 11 November 2022. The scheme is again being delivered by Countryside Services Ltd on behalf of DAERA.
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