Today we’re announcing more details about the new slurry storage grants that we will be launching later this year, as part of the Farming Investment Fund.
Every year, farms in England generate and use millions of tonnes of livestock slurry. Slurry contains lots of nutrients and material that can benefit soil health and support crop growth. It can, though, create significant pollution to our environment. Though some farmers have plans, equipment and infrastructure in place to manage the nutrients in their slurry and manure well, others face significant financial barriers to having sufficient slurry storage. This is an area that has not been effectively regulated in the past. As part of the agricultural transition, we want this to change.
We’ve designed the new grant alongside a number of other measures to help livestock farmers make use of their manure and organic nutrients, backed up by better advice and fair, effective regulation of the rules over the agricultural transition period. We are increasing the scope of the Catchment Sensitive Farming service so that it is available across England. We are reviewing all the guidance on GOV.UK so it is as clear as possible. We are also looking into the potential of more nutrient sharing between farms.
The grant reflects the unique nature of investing in slurry storage infrastructure. We’ve drawn on months of co-design to shape it with farmers, industry and environmental experts.
This post gives extra context to the information published today on GOV.UK. We explain what the new grant offers, how to apply and what to look out for over the coming months.
What we’ll offer
The grant will help livestock farmers already using a slurry system to upgrade their slurry storage, to reach 6 months storage capacity and to cover grant funded stores with impermeable covers.
Farmers are obliged to have a minimum of 4 months slurry storage in the rules for Storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil; 6 months storage will help farmers go beyond those requirements, meet the Farming rules for water and spread slurries to meet crop needs, rather than wasting them because of a lack of storage.
All pig, dairy and beef farmers already using a slurry system can apply. You can use the grant to:
- replace existing stores that are no longer fit for purpose
- build additional storage, if your current stores are compliant
- expand otherwise compliant storage, for example by adding another ring to a steel tank
You can choose from multiple store types and find one to suit the needs of your farm, including slurry lagoons, steel and concrete ring tanks and rectangular concrete stores.
You must use the grant to reach at least 6 months storage capacity based on your current herd, and the stores must meet regulatory and build standards. You can go beyond 6 months storage capacity but we will cap the grant contribution at 6 months so that we can afford to support more farms to improve their storage to at least that level. You’ll need to maintain 6 months storage capacity on your farm as a condition of the grant funding agreement – meaning you’ll need to take appropriate action if you change your herd size in the future.
All grant funded stores must also be fitted with an impermeable cover. This is an important step to prevent rainfall entering stores and to reduce air pollution. You don’t need to do this if your farm already uses a slurry acidification system that reduces the pH to 6 or below at the point of storage.
Stores that remain part of your compliant storage capacity don’t need to be covered as a condition of the grant. You cannot use the grant to retrofit a cover onto an existing store without also expanding the store in the first round, but you can apply for covers for existing stores under Countryside Stewardship.
Recognising the significant cost of investing in high standard slurry infrastructure, the grant will cover 50% of eligible costs. We’ve also changed the minimum and maximum grant amounts from previous rounds of the Farming Investment Fund: lowering the minimum grant to £25k to help smaller farms and capping the maximum at £250k so we can fund more projects.
We think this offer represents the best use of public money to help farmers upgrade their storage for the long term. We are committed to reviewing the design and scope of the grant for future rounds.
How to apply
As with other themes in the Farming Investment Fund, you can apply through a 2-stage process, starting with an online eligibility checker (opening in the autumn) followed by a full application (over the winter).
This is the first time we have run national slurry storage grants for many years. So, we expect demand to be high. In the first round, if we get more applications than we’re able to fund, we’ll prioritise applications which will have a higher environmental benefit. We will do this by inviting those applicants with projects near protected sites to submit a full application.
There will be multiple opportunities to apply for a grant. So if you aren’t successful this year, we would encourage you to apply again in future rounds which we expect to run over the next few years.
What you can do now
You can start preparing now by:
- planning your storage capacity need
- thinking about what sort of store you might build
- choosing where on the farm to put your store
- checking if you need to apply for planning permission
AHDB will shortly publish an updated version of the Slurry Wizard tool to help you calculate your storage capacity. The Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) also produce extensive guidance to help you plan your slurry storage needs, meet regulations and comply with build standards. You can get this resource for free on their website.
If we invite you to make a full application, you will need to give more details. As part of our checks, the Environment Agency will be helping review project plans to check they fit with the rules, and suggest changes, preventing money wasted on detailed planning or construction.
Farmers will also be asked to create and use a nutrient management plan. Further details will be issued about this nearer the time.
What’s next?
We will be publishing further details on the grant over the summer ahead of applications opening in the autumn.
Do look out for further updates on the Defra Future Farming blog and at Funding for Farmers on GOV.UK.
16 comments
Comment by Richard Styles posted on
What to do if we have slurry to store, but no animals? I appreciate that this may seem unusual to the RPA, but we buy muck in the use on our land.
Can we apply for a grant?
Comment by The Team posted on
Thanks for your question, Richard.
In the first round we will only accept grant applications from farmers who produce slurry. We are also looking at how best to support nutrient sharing between farms, so this is something we may visit for future rounds.
Comment by Mick Moor posted on
I would question your insistence on an impervious cover. Keeping rainfall out will be a good thing, but whether a cover is effective at controlling ammonia emissions is questionable. Additionally the design life of a tension cover is considerably less than that of a GFS tank. All a cover does is trap slurry gases inside a warm, damp environment. I my experience this will firstly lead to accelerated corrosion of the tank, be it concrete or glass fused to steel. The top angles, essential to ensure the integrity of the whole structure of a GFS tank are normally galvanised or at best powder coated on top. Surely there is no need to remind you that galvanising is in fact a sacrificial coating. Which in this extremely corrosive atmosphere will rapidly be I used up. By enclosing this environment will necessitate more frequent tank inspections. I will not be happy entering the confined space crated by the cover, with trapped poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulphide! Furthermore, all the cover is doing is trapping the ammonia in until the slurry is spread, when it will be released to the atmosphere. It is a reasonable rule of thumb, that most of the smell from slurry is fertiliser value escaping! A much better proposition would be to separate the slurry and aerate the liquid fraction, which. Allows bacteria. To trap ammonia in the slurry in the form of nitrates. A cheaper, floating cover could then be used to keep water out.
Comment by The Team posted on
Thank you for your comment, Mick. We decided for round 1 to require farmers to include an impermeable cover on grant funded stores after lengthy discussion with farmers and industry. Impermeable covers are a best available technique to reduce water volumes and manage ammonia emissions, especially when combined with low-emission spreading techniques. Defra plans to consult more widely on covering of slurry stores later this year.
Comment by Mike Turner posted on
We have a farm slurry management solution that converts slurry to a concentrated dry slurry that can be sold to biogas operators as a high yielding feedstock, and the other by-product is clean water. All in, it removes the need for lagoon storage and means farmers can get paid for their slurry. Obviously the initial kit does come with a cost to the slurry-producing farm, and we'd like to know if this scheme would include such a slurry management solution and could help the farmers with the upfront cost. I'd appreciate it if someone would be available for a quick call or by email to talk it through so we can explain it a bit more and see what can be done. Thanks in advance.
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Mike,
This sounds helpful for our wider work - we suggest you drop your details to tacklingpollutionfromslurry@defra.gov.uk and someone will speak to you about your technology.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Mike posted on
Thanks team, will do
Comment by Janet posted on
We are hoping to run a slurry bug scheme to understand the effects it has on our slurry quality, ammonia and ph etc.. If this works would this be an acceptable alternative to slurry acidification please? Many thanks.
Comment by david kent posted on
can i apply for planning permission before the scheme opens without losing any grant
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi David,
Thanks for your question. Yes, you can start preparatory work on your project, for example, obtaining quotes from suppliers or applying for planning permission, before applications open. You cannot begin work on the project if you intend to apply for grant funding, such as signing contracts or placing orders.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Joanna Bell posted on
Will slurry bags, which lie on a soil/sand base be eligible for grant funding?
Will slurry separators be eligible for grant funding?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Joanna,
Full details of eligible stores, covers and equipment will be published in the full grant manual over the summer. We do expect large volume supported slurry bag stored in a permanent bund to be eligible, but not slurry separators, which are already offered through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF).
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Emma Powlett posted on
I'd like to email directly but can't find a contact email?
Perhaps you could reply with an email or a name and a tel number?
Issue: Client has an AD plant that fuelled by maize grown on the farm. There is not enough storage to get through the winter. Knock on effect with spreading.
Do not see why non livestock farmers are excluded - especially as this is going towards generating green energy?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Emma,
We are focusing on improving slurry infrastructure because this is where we see the greatest need for investment nationally.
We recognise this will not suit everyone. However, we will continue to assess the scope of the scheme after the first round, to see if there are good value for money grounds for expanding support to other practices.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by David Batty posted on
Is there any dates set yet for when the first round will open or has this been knocked back due to the change in government
thank you
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi David,
We're still on track to open applications for slurry grants by the end of the year. As soon as guidance is available, we'll let people know here on the blog. Information about the application window will follow too.
Best wishes,
The Team