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Don’t forget! The Big Farmland Bird Count 2024 is starting TOMORROW

February 2024

Help raise awareness of the important role farmers play in the conservation of farmland birds and take part in this annual three-week event to record bird species and numbers on your farm.

All you need to do is simply:

Download your count sheet Count and record the birds you see on your property Submit your results online

To download your count sheet and learn more about the event, click here.

This event is organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and sponsored by the National Farms Union (NFU).

Improving Farm Productivity Grant: APPLY NOW

January 2024

Further to our previous update about the upcoming Improving Farm Productivity Grant, the application window is now open for both robotic and automated equipment and solar equipment.

Details of this grant scheme can be found here. Improving Farm Productivity grant Round 2: applicant guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

UPDATE: DEFRA have decided to increase the proportion of the costs that the grant will cover, to 50% rather than 40% for robotic and automated equipment. Meaning the grant will cover more of the total project costs, than it did in Round 1.

Payment of costs for solar equipment will remain the same at 25%.

GRANT…

Changes to Waste Exemption Licenses in Agriculture

January 2024

What we know so far:

At present, there is no need for waste exemption documents and record keeping to be maintained such as evidence of quantities etc, ONLY waste transfer notes. However, this may change. Exemptions are no longer allowed on permitted sites Limits are now imposed on the number of exemptions applicable to one site – this is to avoid operation of a permitted site without the required PP and regulation

Key changes for farmers to be aware of:

U1 – Use of waste in construction

Change in waste types and quantities Wood waste will be restricted to plant tissue only

*There…

Don't forget: Somerset & Avon Dairy Group meeting - this Wednesday!

January 2024

Join us at Keynsham Rugby Club on Wednesday 17th January, to help build and discuss a new collaborative venture in addition to a bite to eat.

In this meeting you will learn what the group is, how collaboration will benefit you and make your farm business more resilient, but more importantly – what members of the group will receive, including:

Infrastructure reviews Environmental auditing Natural Capital Baselining And Cross Farm Collaboration

The services provided are initially supported and funded by the Future Farming Resilience Fund.

This is a chance for farmers across the county to meet like-minded individuals, collaborate and learn…

DEFRA January Update

January 2024

Yesterday, DEFRA announced their latest publication regarding the Agricultural Transition Plan – this provides an update on DEFRA progress to date and their priorities and plans for the upcoming years.

To support productivity, innovation and encourage more farmers to get involved with their schemes that work with food production and environmental targets, DEFRA are aiming to make their schemes and regulation more attractive, fair and workable.

To help achieve this, DEFRA’s plans for 2024 include:

1.An average 10% increase in payment rates for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) to…

Improving Farm Productivity Grants: Round 2

December 2023

Did you miss out on the first round of the Improving Farm Productivity Grant?

DEFRA has recently announced that the second round will soon be available to apply for, in the coming weeks ahead.

The Improving Farm Productivity Grant is part of the Farming Investment Fund and is available to agricultural and arable businesses to support farmers in improving farm and horticulture productivity, providing grant funding towards specific capital items.

Funded improvements will relate to:

The use of robotic and automated equipment and systems to aid crop and livestock productionSolar equipment installation to increase energy resilience and the take-up of… Read More

The Wiltshire Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution Carol Service

December 2023

Fancy a sing-a-long in aid of a great cause? This year AKC are supporting The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution carol service. An evening of Christmas carols and refreshments at Salisbury Livestock Market.

If you are interested in supporting this brilliant charity, see event details.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Southern Counties Farming and Machinery Show

November 2023

Southern Counties Farming and Machinery Show – A brilliant day of meeting new faces, catching up with clients and learning about the latest in high-tech agricultural machinery.

If you missed us yesterday, stay tuned for our launch of next years list of shows we will be attending in 2024!

Have you heard?

November 2023

From 2024 the basic payment scheme will no longer be directly linked to holding eligible land and entitlements, instead payments will be based on an average of your historic payments during the reference years with the degressive percentages applied each year.

Every BPS recipient should receive a Delinked Payment statement by early December. Statements will be sent out in batches from early November.

These statements will show the ‘reference data’ which will be used to calculate your payments from 2024 – 2027.

The reference data being the BPS payments you received between: 2020-2022.

It is important you check…

Still unsure whether to apply for the SFI?

FREE WEBINAR: ' Making the SFI work for your farming business'

October 2023

'Making the SFI work for your farming business'

FREE WEBINAR:

Thursday 23rd November 2023 at 10am

Are you considering applying for a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Agreement? Do you want to know how to make the SFI work for your farm business?

AKC are pleased to be working with Landmark Systems, to provide you a free webinar which will give you all the information you need to make and manage an SFI application.

The webinar will cover:

A technical update on the SFI 2023 offerWhat to consider before applying for the SFI… Read More

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