Strategic Investment Grant
Strategic Investment Grants (SIG)
CLOSED FOR NEW APPLICATIONS
The Strategic Investments Grants which are funded through the Rural Development
Programme for England have been extended and re-launched.
Grants of £62,500 and above are available to land based businesses and can fund large scale and collaborative projects to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sector, and improve the quality of life in rural areas, and diversification of the rural economy. The new areas are:
Farm Diversification
To directly support farm businesses seeking increased income from enterprises other than traditional agricultural enterprises and to generate benefits to the wider rural economy through on-farm investment
Types of projects that will be supported:
• Leisure pursuits – fishing lakes
• Manufacture of food & drink for human consumption
• Provision of innovative products & services
• Farm attractions – tea rooms & conference facilities
• Farm shops
• Environmental services
• Storage, supply & marketing of wood fuels
• Processing of industrial crops
• Development of novel crops – e.g. culinary herbs
• Development of novel livestock enterprises – e.g. dairy sheep
• Renewable energy installations designed to produce heat & power for sale ‘off farm
• The recycling and treatment of organic & non organic wastes
Forestry
To improve the economic value of forests and support the production, processing and marketing of primary forestry products through investment in improved efficiency, renewable energy, new technologies and new market opportunities
Types of projects that will be supported:
• The processing and marketing of wood chip for use as fuel
• Development of new markets through the purchase of harvesting & handling equipment
• Provision of infrastructure for ‘low impact’ forest recreation e.g. cycle tracks
• Bringing of neglected woodland into active management to provide economic benefit to owner
Investment in Basic Services for Rural Populations
The basic objective of this grant is to stem or reverse the trend of reducing & poor access to services in rural areas of the West Midlands
Types of projects that will be supported:
• Leisure, sports & cultural activities
• Child care facilities
• Drop in facilities
• Small scale transport initiatives designed to improve access to jobs & services
• Telecommunications services, access to internet, teleworking projects, village ICT initiatives combing IT equipment, networking & eSkills through community structures
Livestock
To improve the processing and marketing of livestock products.
Types of projects that will be supported:
Meat cutting & marketing
Abattoir improvements
Information technology to improve communications between livestock producers & processors e.g. electronic transmission of carcass grading and condition
Product development
Information of new technologies & processes
Fruit & Vegetable Packing & Processing
To improve the processing and marketing of fruit and vegetable products.
Types of projects that will be supported:
The first stage processing of agricultural (annex 1) products
Product development to supply new markets
The introduction of new technology & processing techniques
Installation of plant & machinery to meet market peculiar specifications
Centralised Storage and Processing Facilities for Combinable Crops
To help the combinable crops sector to become more competitive. This grant is intended to support large scale grain storage and processing equipment. Applicants must be able to demonstrate how their project adds value beyond normal storage operations.
Collaborative producers might with to:
Introduce state of the art grading, drying and batching equipment in order to gain entry to specific markets
Process grains to produce quality food ingredients
Improve quality through provision of on site laboratory facilities to provide traceable analysis of product
Install high speed unloading, quality testing and drying capacity to ensure product quality
Resource Efficiency on Agriculture and Horticulture Units (application window currently closed )
This grant is designed to improve the economic performance of agricultural and horticultural businesses through investments in technologies intended to improve the utilisation of power, heat, manures and water.
Types of projects that will be supported:
• Renewable energy installations
• Renewable heat installations
• Water capture & recycling systems designed to reduce an agricultural businesses reliance on mains water
• Systems intended to improve the handling of manures and slurries and maximise their value as fertiliser
Organic Farm Wastes (application window currently closed )
This grant can provide financial assistance towards the capital costs of plant, fixed equipment and infrastructure necessary for the processing of organic farm wastes. Assistance is intended to support technologies (such as biogas and anaerobic digestion).
Types of projects that will be supported:
• Groups of farmers importing waste from industrial source (e.g. milk processor) for mixing with manures & returning surplus power to industry
• Producers collaborating with institutions (e.g. prison) for mixing manures and returning surplus power to the institution
• Livestock units processing manures & selling surplus power to the grid(gas or electricity)
• Farmers processing imported wastes for use on the holding (e.g. soil conditioners
