Supporting sustainable agriculture
More than £7 million has been awarded to 517 rural businesses in 2023 from the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).
Overall, £27m will be paid over the lifetime of the contracts to applicants, to help support land management activities that will benefit nature and mitigate against climate change.
Farmers can now apply for the 2024/25 AECS funding round, with an expanded range of options to support biodiversity and climate friendly farming activities and land management practices.
More than £4 million will also be made available to fund slurry storage and irrigation lagoons in order to improve water quality in rural areas. Farmers and land managers can now apply for larger funding grants with an additional uplift available to those based in Island communities. This will be the final year that support will be available for slurry storage.
Background
Published on: 14 February, 2024