New Scottish Grant Released: Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS)

On 7th September 2020 the Scottish Government published information on the SACGS on the Rural Payments and Services website.

The Agricultural Transformation Programme (ATP) was announced in Programme for Government 2019-2020 to promote changes in the Scottish Agricultural sector to meet challenging Climate Change targets. The SACGS will provide grant funding for farmers and crofters to purchase specific items of agricultural equipment.  One of the criteria for the grant funding is that it cannot be used to invest in technology that will be used for contracting purposes.

This is a pilot grant scheme that opens for applications on Monday 7th of September 2020 and closes to applications midnight Sunday 11th of October 2020. The main objectives/expected outcomes of the scheme is to:

• protecting and improving the natural environment
• reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming operations
• support sustainable farming
• support sustainable land use

The capital items that can be applied for through the SACGS have been chosen for their effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well supporting sustainable farming, by improving land and livestock management. The maximum amount awarded a single farm/croft business can receive through SACGS is £20,000.

Even though the grant cannot be used for investing in technology that can be used for contracting purposes and only the equipment listed in Annex B is eligible for support many of the proposed technologies are relevant to the AD sector. A few of these are:

• Slurry flow meters
• Nitrogen measuring devices for crops
• Application technologies; trailing shoe, dribble bars, macerators, and shallow injectors
• Manure stores; ring tank floating covers floating and fixed, lagoon floating covers, and light expanding clay aggregate systems, and
• Manure analysis equipment

The application and claims process will use a simple electronic form that can be emailed back to RPID once completed. Information on how to Apply can be found here.

Full information on the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) can be found here.