Guidance

Farming Recovery Fund: November 2019 Handbook and application form

Fill in and return the application form to apply for funding from the Farming Recovery Fund.

This publication was withdrawn on

Please see the Farming Recovery Fund collection page for any eligible schemes.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Update for Farming Recovery Fund (FRF) applicants

We are committed to maintaining vital services for our customers, while making changes to adapt to the current emergency situation. Part of this means we can no longer accept applications by post, but you can email your application to us instead.

Please read the Farming Recovery Fund handbook above to see if you are eligible to apply. Only use this application form if your circumstances are detailed in the handbook.

What you need to do

Send your application form and supporting documents to us by email to FRF@rpa.gov.uk. Make sure you put FRF and your business name in the title.

Do not send your application or any supporting documents to us by post. We can only accept emails and email attachments.

If you have supporting information, such as photographs and maps, scan these or take a picture and email them to us. If you have a large number of attachments, you can send more than one email, but if you do this, make sure you include the number of emails you are sending, such as 1 of 2.

You can already submit your application without signing the declaration, as long as you send it from an email address registered on the Rural Payments service. You will still be able to do this. If you cannot send from a registered email, you will need to print the declaration page, sign it and either scan or take a picture and email it to us, with your application.

Remember to confirm you have read the conditions and include your name and the date.

Please keep all the information you email to us in case we need it for our records when the situation changes.

We know that this may not be easy for some of our customers. But keeping our people and customers safe is our priority, while still trying to offer the best service we can at this difficult time.

If you need to speak to us please call us on 03000 200 301 and we will be happy to help you.

Deadlines for submitting applications for farmers affected by flooding in 2019:

If you are in South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Worcestershire or Gloucestershire the closing date for submitting your application is still 31 July 2020 at 17.00 hrs (5pm)

Scheme

The Farming Recovery Fund provides assistance to farmers whose agricultural land has been damaged by flooding and declared a natural disaster by the Government. The Fund provides financial assistance up to 100%, with a minimum grant level of £500 and a maximum grant level of £25,000.

Financial assistance is made available within the scope of Article 30 and the general conditions of the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation (EU) 702/2014, with assistance being provided to cover non-insurable items and activities such as re-cultivation, reseeding, reinstating field boundaries and removing debris from agricultural land.

The scheme has an application process where farmers who are based in the relevant geographical area and meet the required eligibility criteria, provide photographs and maps to show the impact of the event on their agricultural land. The Rural Payments Agency, on behalf of DEFRA, administers the scheme, assesses the applications for eligibility and issues agreements. Once the work is complete, the Rural Payments Agency processes claims for payment and checks supporting evidence to ensure the work has been completed in line with scheme requirements. A number of site inspections are undertaken to verify the works.

Published 3 September 2019
Last updated 4 August 2020 + show all updates
  1. Removed application form as scheme closed 31 July 2020

  2. Title changed to specify which period the application form and handbook are to be used for.

  3. Update for Farming Recovery Fund (FRF) applicants due to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

  4. V6 of the application form uploaded as there was a calculation that needed updated.

  5. Attached version 4 of the handbook

  6. New text added referring to the updated handbook and application form.

  7. Application form updated to version 4

  8. Title of page changed to include areas affected

  9. Handbook updated to version 2 - Contact details added to page 8

  10. Added application form and handbook

  11. First published.