New funding now available for Yorkshire farmers

Farmers in Yorkshire can apply for RDPE funding for equipment that will help them save money and be more efficient, it was announced this week.

Farms can get up to 25,000 to spend on new equipment that will help them use less energy or fewer raw materials, such as fertiliser, and so save money and reduce the amount of CO₂ they produce. There are seven different energy saving pieces of equipment that can be bought with the funding – heat capture units, voltage optimisation, heat exchangers, rainwater harvesting, slurry or silage store roofs including floating covers, but only where these costs are part of a wider rainwater harvesting project, slurry separators and slurry distribution kit.

Margy Hall, from Woolrow Farm, a 500 cow dairy farm in Huddersfield, received 9,520 to purchase a trailing shoe and a heat capture unit in 2009. The savings we are making are invaluable to the farm, said Margy. Since installing the heat capture unit, we have saved 2,000 a year on our electricity bill. The trailing shoe has not only saved us money on fertiliser, but means that we can spread slurry in summer to make better use of its nutrients.

Farms apply through CO2Sense, a not-for-profit company that helps businesses, including farms, cut their carbon emissions and grow. The funding comes from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union. Since the funding began, it has saved farms in Yorkshire 145,747 by helping them to purchase new, more efficient equipment.

Vicky Wren, FREP project manager, CO2Sense, said We want to help farmers in Yorkshire to become as efficient as possible to help them save money and CO₂. This funding gives farms the chance to make long-term changes, and now that there are even more technologies we can support, including voltage optimisation and floating slurry store covers, we hope to make even more savings for farms in Yorkshire.

The deadline for applications is 7/03/11. To see if you are eligible, or if you wish to apply, contact Vicky Wren on 0113 237 8461, or vicky.wren@co2sense.org.uk, or visit www.co2sense.org.uk/frep

• CO2Sense is a not-for-profit business development programme, which helps businesses in Yorkshire and Humber to succeed in the low-carbon economy

• It is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward

• It is funded by Yorkshire Forward and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

• It has four programmes:

  • Resource Efficiency, which helps businesses to use fewer resources and helps businesses in the environmental sector to grow

  • Carbon Reduction, which helps the regions largest businesses to adapt their business plans to a changing environment and to prosper in the low-carbon environment

  • Renewable Energy, which helps businesses to find sources of low-carbon energy and helps generators of low-carbon energy to sell their energy

  • Carbon Capture and Storage, which encourages industry and investors to develop CCS infrastructure in the region

For more details, visit www.co2sense.org.uk

The Farm Resource Efficiency Programme helps farmers in Yorkshire and Humber to improve the overall economic performance of their holdings through the introduction of new technology to promote energy, manure and water resource efficiency.

The Rural Development Programme for England is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, and is managed by Yorkshire Forward in Yorkshire and Humber.

Farm businesses may apply for up to 50% and 60% of eligible costs equating to grants of between 1,500 and 25,000. For more details about the funding, and the Farm Resource Efficiency Programme, visit www.co2sense.org.uk/frep for the FREP guidance notes.