Welsh farmers offered grants for water management projects

Farmers in Wales are being invited to apply for capital grants of up to £7,500 for projects that will improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding.

The Glastir Small Grants (water) Scheme offers funding for operations such as hedge, tree and shrub planting, maintaining gateways with hardcore or the installation of water troughs as replacement for withdrawing access to natural water sources.

There is also a suite of additional grants on offer for supportive works such as fencing or controlling bracken. You can read the full technical handbook by downloading it from the Glastir website.

See also: Read more from Farmers Weekly on Payments, Schemes and Grants

The payment rate for new hedge planting is £4.50/m, while water troughs attract a payment of £118/each.

Farmers are being invited to submit an expression of interest (EOI) for the scheme, which will be scored and ranked according to its environmental value.

The EOIs must be submitted digitally using Rural Payment Wales’ online facility. The deadline is 22 August 2018 and farmers should know if their claim has been successful by September.

The Welsh government is expecting about 400 applications.

Previous rounds

The Glastir Small Grants Scheme is run at regular intervals, but each time has a different theme.

Previous rounds have focused on improving biodiversity, locking up carbon and supporting pollinators.