Guidance

How to fill in a Slurry Infrastructure grant round 1 full application (invited applicants)

Updated 12 March 2024

Applies to England

Only invited applicants can apply for round 1 of the Slurry Infrastructure grant .  

Find out about other grants and funds. 

You can only submit a full application if you have been invited to do so. You will need to make your full application in 2 parts.

Part 1 – Complete a slurry store location and design assessment form and email it to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) along with any supporting evidence. You’ll also need to complete the slurry wizard as part of the requirements for the form.

Part 2 – When you receive confirmation that your proposed project has passed the slurry store location and design assessment, complete a full application form and full application appendix and email them to RPA along with any supporting documents.

The deadline for submission of the full application is 11:59pm on Friday 28 June 2024.

Before you apply

Before you fill in the slurry store location and design assessment form and full application, read:

• about the Slurry Infrastructure grant, who can apply and what it can pay for guidance
• the email inviting you to submit a full application – this tells you what information you need and contains the forms to be completed for both parts of the application

You will also need to make sure your business is registered with the Rural Payments service.

Check your records on the Rural Payments service

Make sure that your business is registered with the Rural Payments service and has a single business identifier (SBI). RPA cannot process your application without this.

Your application details must match your records on the Rural Payments service. If they do not, follow the guidance to update your records.

These details must be up to date:

• email address
• business name
• business postcode
• full name
• permissions

Permissions in the Rural Payments service

You can give other people access to your business in the Rural Payments service. You must have ‘Full permissions’ and the other person must be registered to give them access to your business details on the Rural Payments service. This is linked to the customer reference number (CRN).

If you are an agent applying on behalf of a customer, or you are not the customer registered on Rural Payments, you must have permission to make legal changes or have full permissions for the business in Rural Payments.

You can find guidance on updating your details in the Rural Payments service on GOV.UK. See our YouTube clip on how to add someone to your business and amend your permission on the Rural Payment service.

How to register on the Rural Payments service

If you are not registered on the Rural Payments service, you must confirm your identity before you can register for the first time.

Telephone the Rural Payments helpline on 03000 200 301 and we will help you register – this will only give you access to the Rural Payments service, not other government services. For information on how we handle personal data, read the Rural Payments Agency personal information charter.

Check you have planning permission

You must have planning permission in place before you submit a full Slurry Infrastructure grant application to the RPA.

If your proposed slurry store is near to a habitats site, your local planning authority may need to undertake a habitats regulations assessment (HRA). The term ‘habitats site’ is defined in the National Planning Policy Framework to include:

• Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), including proposed sites
• Special Protection Areas (SPAs), including proposed sites
• Ramsar sites

Projects in nutrient neutrality catchments where planning permission is granted through a permitted development right must provide written confirmation from Natural England that there are no likely significant effects to habitats sites.

Checklist of evidence

Defra, the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England have written a joint letter to local planning authorities (LPAs) in priority areas.

If you are applying for planning permission near to a habitats site, you may wish to include additional evidence alongside your application, for example in your design and access statement. This may help to show that your slurry storage is likely to pose a low risk to water quality.

It is best to submit as much information as you can upfront to avoid delays to your planning decision.

You may wish to include:

• confirmation that the project is part of the Slurry Infrastructure grant scheme, such as an email from RPA inviting you to submit a full application
• a declaration that the purpose of your proposal is to improve storage for the better management of slurry from your existing herd – this could include evidence of recent and existing livestock numbers
• a nutrient management plan no older than 12 months, produced by a FACTS (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme) qualified advisor – the plan should explain how slurry will be used in compliance with the Farming Rules for Water to maintain the soil at the appropriate target nutrient indices, and should also detail application rates and timings
• soil analysis no older than 5 years to support the nutrient management plan

Catchment Sensitive Farming advice

As an applicant to the Slurry Infrastructure grant scheme, you can get free onsite farm advice from your local Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) adviser. The adviser will provide advice on best practice to protect water, air and soil, including nutrients, slurry and manure management, and ammonia emission reduction.

If you choose to receive this advice, you will be able to make informed decisions on your on-farm nutrient management, including minimising ammonia emissions. This may be a helpful step in producing your evidence for planning permission.

Complete the slurry store location and design assessment form

This form is attached to your invite to submit a full application email.

Fill in every section on the form unless the instructions say you can move to another question.

Under the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) (SSAFO) Regulations 2010, a person who proposes to have custody or control of slurry that is to be kept in a new or improved store must give the EA notice specifying the type of storage system and its location, at least 14 days before work constructing the store is to begin. If you have been invited by RPA to submit a full application for the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF) Slurry Infrastructure grant, submission of this form and supporting information is enough to meet these notice requirements. There is no need to inform the EA separately.

Section 1: Applicant and project details

Please provide details of the business applying for the grant. This should be the same business on the stage 1 online application that was invited to submit a full application.

If you’re filling in this form on behalf of a business or organisation where you are not the owner, you should be a director or partner.

Question 1

Enter your SBI number here. You must make sure that the SBI number and business details registered with us on the Rural Payments service match with the SBI number entered on the assessment form. If it does not, we will not be able to assess your proposed project.

Question 2

Tell us the full name of your business or organisation. This is the name used on your annual financial accounts and your business bank account. It should also be the name of the business or organisation registered on the Rural Payments service.

Question 3

Enter your title, first name and surname. The applicant is normally the owner, a director or partner of the applicant business. The applicant’s name on the form must match with the name registered on the Rural Payments service for the applicant business. The applicant must be someone with permission to make legal changes or full permissions for the applicant business.

Question 4

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if you are an agent submitting the application on behalf of a customer.

If ‘Yes’, enter your name, and the name of the business you work for. You will need to have permission to make legal changes or full permissions for the applicant business.

Question 5

Enter the 6-digit project reference number which you can find at the top of your ‘invitation to submit a full application’ email.

Question 6

Enter the name of your project. This should be the same as the project name you gave on the online application, and as recorded in the confirmation email you received.

This project name will be included in any correspondence and in any publicity as detailed in the Managing a successful Farming Transformation Fund project guidance.

Question 7

Use the drop-down box to tell us what type of farmer you are.

Question 8

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if your farm has an environmental permit issued by the EA under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

The environmental permit is relevant for pig farms with capacity for more than 2,000 production pigs over 30kg, or 750 sows.

If ‘Yes’, you need to enter the permit reference number.

If your farm has a permit, you may need to apply for a variation to change an environmental permit. This is likely if you are applying for a new store and may be required if you are applying for a replacement or expanded store. You can use the EA’s pre-application advice service to find out more or discuss this with your EA site officer.

You do not need to have a permit variation in place before you submit this form. However, where applicable, a permit variation must be agreed by the time you submit your final claim.

Question 9

Use the drop-down box to tell us about the status of your planning application.

If ‘approved’, or ‘submitted’ for either full application or prior notification, tell us the name of the LPA and the planning reference number in the boxes provided.

You do not need to have planning permission in place before you submit your slurry store location and design assessment form. However, your planning application must be approved before you submit your full application.

Section 2. Existing slurry storage

Question 10

Enter the number of existing slurry stores you currently have.

If you have more than one grant application for different projects, only enter the existing stores which are part of this slurry storage system.

Question 11

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if you currently acidify slurry at the point of storage.

If ‘Yes’, you need to tell us how you do this. For example:

• through a dosing system using sulphuric acid and then it is returned to the slatted floor cellars
• through a dosing system using sulphuric acid before it enters the slurry store
• using a plasma treatment to lower and maintain the pH of the slurry before it enters the store

Question 12

If you have more than one existing slurry store, use Annex A (at the back of this form) to answer these questions for each existing store you have.

Enter the name/identifier of your existing slurry store.

This should be the same as the one used on the site plans, the slurry wizard and the slurry store location and design assessment form. For example, ‘Slurry store 1’.

Use the drop-down box to tell us the type of your existing slurry store.

If your store type is not listed, you need to tell us what type of store it is.

Question 12a

Enter ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if your store is only used to store slurry.

If ‘No’, you need to tell us what other materials enter the slurry store. For example, ‘farmyard manure and digestate’.

Slurry is defined by the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010 (SSAFO) as:

liquid or semi-liquid matter composed of excreta produced by livestock while in a yard or building (including that held in wood chip corrals); or a mixture wholly or mainly consisting of livestock excreta, livestock bedding, rainwater and washings from a building or yard used by livestock, of a consistency that allows it to be pumped or discharged by gravity at any stage in the handling process.

Question 12b

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if you are going to continue to use this store for slurry storage. Only tick yes if it’s going to form part of your future slurry storage.

If ‘No’, you need to tell us why you will not continue to use this store. For example, ‘the store is at the end of its lifespan and needs to be replaced’. Then go to Question 15.

If ‘Yes’, enter the capacity of the store in cubic metres (m³).

Find this out by using the slurry wizard or the known dimensions of the store.

For rectangular or circular stores, make sure the 300mm freeboard depth has been deducted from the measured depth of the store and use the capacity in m³ figure.

For earth bank lagoons, if you use the slurry wizard to work out the capacity, enter the figure from the ‘working volume in cubic metres (m³)’ column from the ‘Slurry Data Entry’ tab. If you do not use the slurry wizard, you need to tell us the dimensions used to calculate the store capacity.

Question 12c

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if your existing slurry storage system (including store, effluent tank, channels, reception pit, valves and pipework) is in good working order, for example with no leaks or failures.

If the slurry storage system is no longer fit for purpose, you must stop using it for storing slurry or other organic material.

Question 12d

Use the drop-down box to tell us if the store has a cover.

If you have a cover that has had previous grant funding, you should check your grant funding agreement to make sure that your proposed project will not breach any of those conditions.

Question 12e

Enter the date your existing store was built.

If you do not know the exact date, enter the year it was built.

Question 12f

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if your store has been enlarged or altered since it was built.

If ‘Yes’, tell us what alterations were carried out and when. For example, ‘extra ring to steel slurry store in 2015’.

Section 3. Future slurry storage

Please fill in the relevant section of the form with details of your future slurry storage system.

Retained slurry store (unmodified)

Question 13

Enter the name/identifier of the slurry store if you are planning to keep an existing store with no modifications.

This should be the same as on the site plans, the slurry wizard and the slurry store location and design assessment form. For example, ‘Slurry Store 1’.

Enter the 10-digit Ordnance Survey (OS) grid reference of the existing slurry store.

This should be the grid reference at the centre of the slurry store and must contain 2 letters and 10 digits in the format LLNNNNNNNNNN, for example AA1234567890. You can find the 10-digit OS grid reference by using the Grid Reference Finder and right clicking on the map at the centre of the slurry store.

If you are planning to retain more than one existing slurry store (unmodified), use Annex B (at the back of this form) to answer these questions for each one you are planning to retain.

Question 13a

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the existing slurry store, channels or reception pit are within 10m of inland freshwaters or coastal waters (including those that are seasonally dry).

Question 13b

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the existing slurry store, channels or reception pit are within 50m of a spring, well or borehole.

Question 13c

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the existing slurry store is in a groundwater source protection zone (SPZ).

Question 13d

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the store has an associated reception pit.

If ‘Yes’, tell us if you are replacing the existing reception pit by selecting the box ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

If ‘Yes’, tell us why you are replacing the reception pit. For example:

• the current reception pit does not hold 2 days’ slurry
• it is no longer fit for purpose
• we need to relocate the slurry pit to service the new store
• we need to move the existing reception pit because it will be in the way of the new store

Retained slurry store (expanded)

Question 14

Enter the name/identifier of the slurry store if you are planning to expand an existing store.

This should be the same as on the site plans, the slurry wizard and the slurry store location and design assessment form. For example, ‘Slurry Store 1’.

Enter the 10-digit OS grid reference of the expanded slurry store.

This should be the grid reference at the centre of the slurry store and must contain 2 letters and 10 digits in the format LLNNNNNNNNNN, for example AA1234567890. You can find the 10-digit OS grid reference by using the Grid Reference Finder and right clicking on the map at the centre of the slurry store.

If you are planning to expand more than one existing slurry store, use Annex C (at the back of this form) to answer these questions for each one you are planning to expand.

Question 14a

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, to tell us if the expanded slurry store, channels or reception pit are within 10m of inland freshwaters or coastal waters (including those that are seasonally dry).

Question 14b

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the expanded slurry store, channels or reception pit are within 50m of a spring, well or borehole.

Question 14c

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the expanded slurry store is in a groundwater SPZ.

Question 14d

Enter the capacity of the expanded slurry store in m³).

You can work out the capacity using the slurry wizard or by using the known dimensions of the store.

For rectangular or circular stores, the 300mm freeboard depth must be included in the measured depth of the store and use the capacity in m³) figure.

For earth bank lagoons, if you used the slurry wizard to work out the capacity, enter the figure from the ‘total volume (m³)’ column from the ‘Slurry Data Entry’ tab. If you do not use the slurry wizard, you need to tell us the information, including any dimensions, that you used to work out the capacity.

Question 14e

Use the drop-down box to tell us what type of cover the expanded store will have.

If you are retaining an existing cover, you must make sure it is impermeable and able to cover the whole store when it has been expanded.

Question 14f

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if you have confirmation from a civil or structural engineer, or original manufacturer, that an existing store is suitable for expansion, and the addition of an impermeable cover.

If ‘Yes’, you will need to supply evidence of this as detailed in Section 5: Supporting documents checklist.

Question 14g

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the expanded store has an associated reception pit.

If ‘Yes’, tell us if you are replacing the existing reception pit, by selecting the box ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

If ‘Yes’, tell us why you are replacing the reception pit. For example:

• current reception pit does not hold 2 days’ slurry
• it is no longer fit for purpose
• we need to relocate the slurry pit to service the new store
• we need to move the existing reception pit because it will be in the way of the new store

New slurry store

Question 15

Enter the name/identifier of the slurry store if you are planning to build a new store.

This should be the same as on the site plans and the slurry store location and design assessment form. For example, ‘Slurry Store 1’.

Provide the 10-digit OS grid reference of the new slurry store in the box provided.

This should be the grid reference at the centre of the slurry store and must contain 2 letters and 10 digits in the format LLNNNNNNNNNN, for example AA1234567890. You can find the 10-digit OS grid reference by using the Grid Reference Finder and right clicking on the map at the centre of the slurry store.

Using the drop-down box select the store type.

If you are planning to build more than one new slurry store, use Annex D (at the back of the assessment form) to answer these questions for each store you are planning to build.

Question 15a

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the new slurry store, channels or reception pit will be within 10m of inland freshwaters or coastal waters (including those that are seasonally dry).

Question 15b

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the new slurry store, channels or reception pit will be within 50m of a spring, well or borehole.

Question 15c

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if the new slurry store is in a groundwater SPZ.

Question 15d

Tell us the capacity of the new slurry store in m³).

You can work out the capacity using the slurry wizard or for large volume slurry bags, by using the published dimensions of the store.

For rectangular or circular stores, the 300mm freeboard depth must be included in the measured depth of the store and use the capacity in m³ figure.

For earth bank lagoons enter the figure from the ‘total volume (m³)’ column from the ‘Slurry Data Entry’ tab.

For large volume slurry bags, tell us the dimensions used to work out the capacity.

Question 15e

Use the drop-down box to tell us what type of cover the new store will have.

Question 15f

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if you intend to use an existing reception pit.

If ‘No’, tell us if you are building a new reception pit.

If you are building a new reception pit, please explain why in the box provided.

Storage details after project completion

Question 16

Tell us what the total usable storage capacity in m³ will be when the grant funded work is completed.

This should reflect the information entered in the previous sections.

Question 17

Use the drop-down boxes to tell us which 6-month period you are including as part of your storage calculations?

For example, a pig farm in a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) should enter 1 October to 1 April. Other farms should use 1 September to 1 March unless they have a specific housing regime, in which case it should cover the main periods of housing.

Question 18

Tell us what storage capacity in cubic metres (m³) you will need to meet the total slurry production over your chosen 6 months.

You can use the slurry wizard to work this out by adding together the ‘Total cubic meters (m³)’ figures (row 20) for each of your chosen 6 months.

Question 19

Tell us if your storage capacity is higher than the 6 months’ capacity this grant will fund. If it is, enter the amount of additional storage capacity.

This figure should be in line with the answers in Question 16 and Question 18. You will only receive grant funding up to the amount of storage you need to reach 6 months’ storage capacity.

Section 4. Livestock and slurry production details

Question 20

We need to know your existing livestock numbers, housing periods and slurry production. Existing livestock numbers means the typical number of animals you kept on the farm over the last year. The last year is counted from the point at which you submit your full application.

For the relevant livestock categories, enter the total number of each type and age, the housing period, and confirm if slurry is produced. We’ve provided an example of how to do this below:

Livestock category	Livestock type and age	Livestock number	Housing or occupancy period	Is slurry produced
Dairy	Cows after first calf	100	September to March	Yes
Dairy	Heifers 13 months to calving	35	October to February	No, on straw
Dairy	Heifers 3 to <13 months	50	October to February	Yes
Dairy	Calves <3 months	35	All year	No, on straw

If there is not a relevant livestock category for your farming system, enter the details of your livestock type and age in the ‘Other’ category.

Section 5. Supporting documents checklist

You must email your supporting documents with your slurry store location and design assessment form.

These are listed at the end of the form. You need to review this list and tick the box to confirm you have included the document with the form. There is a comments box for you to explain if necessary.

Read how to apply for a Slurry Infrastructure grant for more details on the supporting documents. If we do not receive all the supporting documents needed for your project, this could affect your project timescales.

If you do not provide these documents when we ask for them, or they do not meet the requirements in the guidance, your application may be rejected.

Please make sure your supporting documents meet the following requirements.

Site plans

For all projects, using maps of your farmyard, please provide to scale site plan(s) showing what the site will look like once work is completed. This must include the location of all the existing and proposed infrastructure, for example, slurry store, reception pits, roofed buildings, yard areas, silage clamps.

The plans should note the following:

• unique names/identifiers for each slurry store (new and existing, including stores that will no longer be used for slurry storage)
• dimensions
• purpose of any buildings (parlour, cubicles, finisher housing, farrowing house), yard areas (collecting yard, feeding yard) and structures (silage pit, slurry channels, reception pit, slurry ramp)
• surface types (concrete, asphalt, gravel, grass)
• direction of flow from impermeable surfaces
• areas where stock have access
• drainage system, pathways and infrastructure (drains, pipework, guttering, land drains)
• clean water discharge points
• transfer routes of slurry
• permitted boundary, if you are a permitted site under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

If you already have a drainage plan for a permitted site under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, or previously had a Catchment Sensitive Farming Infrastructure Audit plan, or a plan for your Industry Assurance Scheme – you can provide these, but they should be noted as detailed above. You can provide more than one plan if needed, to show the full farmyard and proposed infrastructure.

If you do not have a suitable map, you can email FTF@rpa.gov.uk to ask for one. If the map does not cover a large enough area, please provide more information, for example a new OS grid reference, so we can provide an additional map.

Design specifications of the intended structures

For all projects, this should include for example, clear annotated scaled plans including elevations, and sectional diagrams.

Location maps of any springs, wells or boreholes within your farm holding

For all projects, these locations should be clearly shown on a plan of your holding.

Slurry wizard output

For all projects, please complete the slurry wizard for your existing slurry system. See the ‘Complete the slurry wizard for Slurry Infrastructure grant applications’ section of this guidance.

You should only use the July 2022 version. If you do not have a copy of this, you can email FTF@rpa.gov.uk to ask for one.

The slurry wizard works out the volume of slurry that the farm will produce on a monthly basis. Use it to calculate the capacity required to reach 6 months’ storage.

Make sure that the names/identifiers entered for each store on the slurry wizard are the same as those used on any site plans.

You must declare 6 months’ slurry storage in cubic metres (m³) requirement. This includes the specific freeboard requirement that is appropriate for the type of store planned.

Once you have completed the slurry wizard, you need to save the Excel output file and send it along with this form.

If you use your own rainfall data, please send in any records and evidence you have to support the figures used. Rainfall data must use a minimum of 5-year averages.

Photos or videos of any existing stores

For all projects, please provide photos or videos of any existing slurry storage systems and reception pits. Make sure they cover the entire storage system, including reception pits, from all angles, and show clear images of all sides, corners, joins and surfaces.

You must reference each photo with the store name/identifier (as used on any site plans and the slurry wizard, the date the photo was taken and a short description of what it shows for example, load bearing walls, side walls etc.

We can only accept videos in an MP4 format which are no larger than 20mb in size. Depending on how much you want to record, you may need to record more than one video to make sure the size limit is not exceeded.

Send these as actual attachments to your email. Do not save your videos in online storage systems and provide links to access them.

Emails should be a maximum of 32mb. If you need to, you can send videos on several separate emails. If you do, number each email, for example ‘Project reference number: assessment form video 1 of 3’.

Expanding an existing store

If you are expanding an existing store, you will need to provide written confirmation from a civil or structural engineer that your existing store is suitable for expansion and the addition of an impermeable cover.

The engineer must be a qualified civil or structural engineer and a member of a chartered institute.

This could include, for example, confirmation that:

• the existing structure can withstand the additional loads likely to be imposed from the expansion without the walls failing
• the foundations can withstand the additional load placed on them (especially raft foundations)
• the structure will last 20 years (with maintenance)

Constructing an earth bank lagoon without synthetic liner

If you are constructing an earth bank lagoon without a synthetic liner, please provide evidence of soil and site suitability by sending details on soil testing, including:

• where the soil samples were taken
• how the soil samples were taken
• the results of the soil sample analysis

Further information on soil testing can be found in the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) guidance, Livestock manure and silage storage infrastructure for agriculture (C759F).

Using a large volume supported slurry bag

If you are using a large volume supported slurry bag, please provide details of the secondary containment you will use. Further information on secondary containment can be found in the CIRIA guidance, Livestock manure and silage storage infrastructure for agriculture (C759F).

Section 6. Declaration

Please read this section and make sure that you agree with, and can meet, the requirements set out in it.

The declaration must be completed and submitted by someone holding ‘full’ or ‘make legal changes’ permission on the Rural Payments service.

By submitting and agreeing to the submission of the slurry store location and design assessment form, you’ll be agreeing to the declarations.

Complete the slurry wizard for Slurry Infrastructure grant applications

You should complete the slurry wizard as part of the requirements for the slurry store location and design assessment form. This is part of the process for submitting a full application for the Slurry Infrastructure grant only.

The slurry wizard was developed to help you work out your slurry storage requirements and different storage options. It also shows storage compliance for NVZs and calculates the nitrogen produced in organic manures across the farm.

You will need to complete the July 2022 version of the slurry wizard and save it. If you do not have a copy of this, you can email FTF@rpa.gov.uk to ask for one. Make any changes you need and save with a new file name relevant to your application.

We have adapted this guidance specifically to help you complete the slurry wizard for the slurry store location and design assessment form. Please do not use the slurry wizard or the user guide currently available on the AHDB website, as this includes additional information which you do not need to apply for the Slurry Infrastructure grant Round 1.

This means you do not need to complete all the fields in the slurry wizard. This guidance tells you which fields you should fill in.

Slurry wizard start

When you open the slurry wizard, you’ll see 4 tabs. The first tab is the ‘slurry wizard start’ tab.

Fill in only the following boxes:

• farm name/reference
• herd size
• milk yield/cow

Once you have completed these boxes, click on the ‘Go to Slurry Data Entry’ button.

Slurry data entry

When you open the ‘Slurry data entry’ tab, fill in the following information for your holding:

• telephone STD (dialling) code
• cows in milk

We use the telephone STD code to give the relevant rainfall data for your location, so you need to make sure this is the correct code for your holding’s location.

If you have collected reliable and verifiable rainfall data for your farm, you can use this instead (see the slurry report section).

We use your ‘number of cows in milk’ figure to calculate the volume of parlour washings produced.

For pigs, replace the ‘number of cows in milk’ figure with the number of pig places (used to calculate the volume of wash water used).

Definition of structures

The following will help you decide what structures you are able to include in the slurry wizard tables.

Slurry stores should be included in slurry wizard. This could be a lagoon, or a pit (other than a reception pit) or tower used for the storage of slurry.

Reception pits, channels and pipework should not be included in slurry wizard. A reception pit is a pit used for the collection of slurry before it is transferred into a slurry store or for the collection of slurry discharged from the store. Channels and pipework are linear structures used for the conveyance of slurry, into and between pits and stores, with the slurry residing for a short period of time if not in constant motion.

When deciding if your structure is a slurry store or reception pit, how you use it is important. Reception pits should only be used for the temporary storage of slurry before it is transferred to a slurry store. For the purposes of the Slurry Infrastructure grant, a structure would need to be consistently emptied of slurry at least once every 14 days for it to be considered temporary storage. Farms operating under Environmental Permits issued by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 must also consider the permit conditions and ensure these are complied with.

To decide if a structure is a slurry store or reception pit when completing the slurry wizard, consider the following questions:

1. Is slurry transferred from the structure into a slurry store? If yes continue to question 2. If no, it would be considered a slurry store for the purpose of your application and should be included in slurry wizard.

2. Is the structure consistently emptied of slurry at least once every 14 days? If yes continue to question 3. If no, it would be considered a slurry store for the purpose of your application and should be included in slurry wizard.

3. Do you want to have the option to use your structure for longer term storage during the grant agreement period, for example, empty it less frequently than at least once every 14 days? If yes, it should be considered a slurry store for the purpose of your application and should be included in slurry wizard. If no, then it should be considered a reception pit for the purpose of your application and should not be included in slurry wizard.

Calculating slurry storage capacity

Fill in the measurements of your existing slurry stores to calculate your current storage capacity.

Depending on the type of store you have, you can use the 2 calculator tables as follows:

• slurry storage capacity for earth bank stores
• slurry storage capacity for concrete rectangular and circular stores

For earth bank stores, enter the total depth (do not deduct 0.75m freeboard), the width, the length and a slope factor from the following:

• 2 for a bank slope of 1 to 1 (1:1)
• 3 for a bank slope of 1 to 1.5 (1:1.5)
• 4 for a bank slope of 1 to 2 (1:2)
• 5 for a slope factor of 1 to 2.5 (1:2.5)

For rectangular and circular stores, deduct 0.3m freeboard from the height of the store.

For circular stores, use the boxes for store 5 and 6.

If your existing stores are covered with an impermeable cover that excludes rainfall input, please tick the ‘Tick if Covered Store’ box to confirm this.

Clearly identify each store and make sure it matches the accompanying maps, plans and diagrams.

Slurry separator

If you use a slurry separator you will need to complete the slurry separator table.

SSAFO requires all farms that produce slurry and intend to spread it on their land to have enough storage to hold all the slurry produced in any 4 month period. In Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), this increases to 5 months for cattle and 6 months for pigs.

By law, you must have enough storage to contain all the slurry you produce for these durations without your separator. This means you will have enough storage if the separator fails or requires maintenance.

Slurry separators can be used to further reduce pressure on your stores once these legal minimums are met. By diverting only the liquid fraction of separated slurry to the store, you can create extra headroom in your main stores while safely managing the solid fraction in a separate store or location.

When you submit your slurry wizard report, you should check that you will have enough storage to meet:

• the legal minimums without the separator
• the Slurry Infrastructure grant storage minimums (6 months capacity) with the separator

Check if the separator values are right for your farm. The default value for percentage reduction in slurry entering the store is 35%. You should adjust the percentage reduction in slurry to reflect the average reduction in total volume of slurry entering the store that you achieve from using your separator. It should not be based purely on your separator performance.

This is because slurry wizard applies the percentage reduction to the total volume of slurry produced not just the total volume of excreta produced. In practice, the advertised reduction in volume is likely to only be achieved with the excreta component as the other sources contain minimal dry matter content, for example rainfall, wash water, parlour washings, roof water. You need to be realistic about the reduction in volume you achieve and explain the basis for the percentage reduction used.

Please send in any records and evidence you have to support the figures used with your slurry wizard output and your slurry store location and design assessment form, including evidence that you meet the legal minimum slurry storage requirements.

Parlour washings to slurry store

To include parlour washings to your slurry production figures, enter the details in the parlour washings to slurry store table.

Enter the litres per cow per day, which will normally be between 20 (low volume washing) to 30 (high volume washing) litres. You will need to explain the basis for the figure used. If you use robotic milkers, you may have to adjust this figure based on the number of daily runs and volume used.

Uncovered dirty yard and roof areas that drain to the slurry store

You will need to measure these areas and enter the measurements in the following tables:

• uncovered areas of dirty yards, silage silos and earth bank surrounds to slurry store
• roof water area to slurry store

You should clearly identify each area and make sure it matches the accompanying maps, plans and diagrams.

When you have completed the ‘Slurry Data Entry’ tab, click on the ‘Go to Livestock Data Entry’ button.

Livestock data entry

Enter the total number of each type and age of all your existing livestock numbers in the table.

Existing livestock numbers means the typical number of animals you kept on the farm over the last year. The last year is counted from the point at which you submit your full application.

For pig producers, there is no category for ‘Dry Sows’. Please use the ‘Boar >150kg’ category if you have these.

This will calculate the total amount of excreta produced by the livestock.

Enter the ‘% collected as slurry’ by working out any reductions. For example, calves or dry cows may be bedded on straw and not have any access to yard areas, whereas for cows housed on straw with access to uncovered yard areas for feeding and loafing, the typical amount may be 50%.

Similarly, dry sows may be housed on straw, but a proportion of excreta may be scraped or pushed to channels and end up in the slurry store.

You will be asked to explain the basis of the percentage reduction.

When you have completed the ‘Livestock Data Entry’ tab, click on the ‘Go to Slurry Report’ button.

Slurry report

The slurry report provides a monthly profile of slurry production based on the information entered to it.

You need to enter the percentage of slurry stored figure in the ‘% excreta to slurry store (100% for housed)’ row.

This figure will depend on when the cows are grazed or housed. During the main grazing period, you would expect around 20% of the slurry to fall on yards associated with milking.

If you have collected reliable and verifiable rainfall data for your farm you can enter this directly into the table in the ‘Own average rainfall (mm)’ row. You need to enter the rainfall in metres per month.

If you use your own rainfall data, please send in any records and evidence you have to support the figures used with your slurry wizard output and your slurry store location and design assessment form. Rainfall data must use a minimum of 5-year averages.

Once you have calculated your current and 6 months slurry production figures and storage requirements, you should save this information. Then you can consider the proposed storage requirements and type and size of store you need.

If your holding has a dairy and pig enterprise, you should enter your dairy data first, to calculate parlour washings. Then enter your pig data to calculate your pig wash water volume on a separate document. Submit these with your slurry wizard output and your slurry store location and design assessment form.

Pig production unit guidance

The slurry wizard was developed for the dairy industry and includes a section for parlour washings to add to the slurry production figures from a dairy unit.

If your holding has a dairying and pig enterprise, you should use separate spreadsheets to calculate parlour washings and pig wash water. These should be submitted alongside your slurry wizard output with your slurry store location and design assessment form.

Although pig farmers can input pig numbers in the ‘Livestock data entry’ tab of slurry wizard and calculate excreta from the animals, there is no provision for wash water use that may form part of the overall slurry production figures on a pig unit.

To include wash water in the overall slurry production, you will need to include an estimate of this amount when you are calculating the total slurry storage calculations.

You may be able to do this by using the volume from water meters, the flow rate of equipment used, or by using an approximation per animal housed.

Click on the ‘Go to Slurry Data Entry’ button and replace the number of ‘Cows in milk’ with the number of pig places on the unit.

In the ‘Parlour Washings to slurry store’ table, enter the litres of wash water used per pig place per day using standard figures (from Defra NVZ calculation figures) based on the category of pig.

An approximation, based on Defra figures used by farmers for NVZ calculations, for the litres of wash water used per place per day are as follows:

• sows including litters: 1.43
• weaners 7kg to 13kg: 0.28
• weaners 13kg to 31kg: 0.37
• growers 31kg to 66kg: 0.27
• finishers greater than 66kg: 0.23
• maiden gilts: 0.08
• boars: 0.08
• dry sows: 0.08

Tick ‘Yes’ for parlour washings to slurry store and enter the appropriate litres per place per day from the list above.

If you keep more than one category, you will need to work out the figure in litres per place per day by proportioning the categories.

For example, on a unit there are 200 sows including litters, 1,200 weaners (7kg to 13kg), 1,200 weaners (13kg to 31kg), 1,200 growers (31kg to 66kg). The total daily wash water used is 1,390 litres comprising 286 litres for sows including litters, 336 litres for light weaners, 444 litres for heavy weaners and 324 litres for growers. The average is 0.366 litres per place per day.

You can also use farm specific figures from water meters of the flow rate of equipment used. You will be asked to explain any figures used.

You then need to click on the ‘Go to Slurry Report’ button.

The date you enter in the ‘Slurry data entry’ tab will be transferred to the ‘Slurry report’ tab.

Submit your assessment form

Email the completed assessment form and supporting information to FTF@rpa.gov.uk.

Save your assessment form as a Microsoft Word document.

Attach it to an email and send it from the email address you give us in Section 1 of the assessment form.

If an agent or consultant sends the form for you, they must copy you into the email (using the email address you give us in Section 1).

The email addresses used to submit the assessment form must match with those held in the Rural Payments service, with permission to make legal changes or full permissions for the applicant business.

Complete a full application form

Once you have received confirmation that your proposed project has passed the store location and design assessment, you can complete and return your full application. This is the second part to applying for a Slurry Infrastructure grant.

Fill in every section of the form unless the instructions say you can either type ‘N/A’ or move to the next question.

Section 1. Applicant details

Provide details about the business or organisation applying for the grant. This should be the same business that completed the stage 1 online application and invited to submit a full application.

If you’re filling in this form on behalf of a business or organisation where you are not the owner, you should be a director or partner.

Question 1.1

Enter the 6-digit project reference number from the top of your ‘invitation to submit a full application’ email.

Question 1.2

Enter your SBI number here. You must make sure that the SBI number and business details registered on the Rural Payments service match with the SBI number, applicant business name, applicant name, applicant email address, address and postcode entered on the full application form. If they do not, we will not be able to process your application.

Question 1.3

Enter your title, first name and surname. The applicant is normally the owner, a director or partner of the applicant business. The applicant must be someone with permission to ‘make legal changes’ or ‘full permissions’ for the business on the Rural Payments service.

Question 1.3a

Select your answer from the drop-down list.

Question 1.4

Enter the email address we should use to contact you if we have any queries about your application. Please provide an email address that you check regularly as we will use email as our main way of contacting you. This should be your email address and not the one for your agent or manager, which you can give at Section 2.

Question 1.5

Enter your phone number in case we need to contact you about your application.

Question 1.6

Tell us the full name of your business or organisation. This is the name used on your annual financial accounts and your business bank account. It should also be the name of the business or organisation registered on the Rural Payments service.

Question 1.7

Enter your business phone number. It’s helpful for us to have 2 different contact numbers should we need them.

Question 1.8

Enter the full address of the applicant business. If the organisation has more than one address, it should be the address that all postal correspondence should be sent to, as on the Rural Payments service.

Question 1.9

We gathered some information from you when you completed the online application. Please review the answers you gave about the legal status of the business, business activity and business name. We recorded these in the email you received after submitting your details.

Select ‘No’ from the drop-down list to confirm that the answers you gave in the online application to all these questions have not changed.

Select ‘Yes’ from the drop-down list to confirm that one or more of the answers you gave in the online application to these questions has changed or is incorrect.

Question 1.9a

If your answer at 1.9 is ‘Yes’, please tell us of the changes to the applicant business details since you completed the online application. The comments boxes on the form will expand as you write your answer.

If there have been important changes to any of the applicant business details which have not already been discussed and agreed with your RPA contact, your application may not be eligible to proceed.

Question 1.10

Enter the most recent business turnover, balance sheet total (the total of all assets), and the financial year end date. If the business is less than one financial year old and has not filed any financial accounts yet, you can leave this blank.

We need the last 3 consecutive and most recent years of full audited or unaudited accounts.

These should include profit and loss, balance sheet, the cover title and introduction pages. Include the pages which disclose all the notes to the accounts if there are any. We cannot accept ‘abbreviated accounts’.

Email your business accounts as PDF documents if you can.

Question 1.10a

Use the comments box to tell us if your business accounts do not meet these requirements. For example, some small businesses may not produce full sets of accounts, but we’d still expect to see a profit and loss and balance sheet summary.

We cannot accept ‘abridged accounts’ from small or micro companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as they do not contain the turnover information we need to assess eligibility and financial viability. If you produce ‘abridged accounts’, you need to provide a statement with them which shows turnover, cost of sales, direct costs and gross profit for the 3 most recent accounting periods. This must be endorsed by an independent and suitably qualified accountant.

If you’re a new business (you have not yet started trading or have been trading for less than 2 years) or are self-employed, explain how you will have the financial capacity to successfully deliver the project. This will need to be evidenced by one or more of the following supporting documents:

• latest tax returns
• an opening statement from a professionally qualified independent accountant that includes planned financing (loans or equity invested into the business), expected income and operating expenses
• draft financial statements or management accounts showing financial performance during the early period of trading

Question 1.11

We need to know if your business is linked to other businesses, to understand the structure and size of the business applying.

Businesses are considered linked when:

• one business holds a majority of the shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in another business
• one business is entitled to appoint or remove a majority of the administrative, management or supervisory body of another
• a contract between the business, or a provision in the memorandum or articles of association of one of the businesses, enables one to exercise a dominant influence over the other
• one business is able, by agreement, to exercise sole control over a majority of shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in another

Businesses can also be linked through ownership by individuals, such as partners or through shareholding. Where this type of ownership is through one or more individuals who could work together, the enterprises involved are considered as linked if they operate on the same or adjacent markets. Family links are enough to show that individuals are working together.

If you are unsure if there is a link between the applicant business and any others, you should call our helpline on 03000 200 301 and select the option for the Farming Transformation Fund.

Question 1.11a

If your answer at 1.11 is ‘Yes’, please tell us the name of any linked businesses.

You must send us the latest financial accounts for all linked businesses. If you are part of a group structure (a parent or subsidiary company) you must also provide consolidated group accounts.

Question 1.12

Using the drop-down box, tell us if your business or organisation has any related or linked businesses in Northern Ireland. You can only use this grant funding for business operations in England. You must not cross-subsidise any related, linked, parent, subsidiary, partnership, joint venture businesses or operations based in Northern Ireland.

Question 1.12a

If your answer at 1.12 is ‘Yes’, please provide the details of the businesses or operations.

Question 1.13

Complete the drop-down boxes to provide information on the business principals, selecting either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (business principals means any business owner, partner or director). If you answer ‘No’ to all 4 questions, go straight to Section 2.

Question 1.13a

If you answer ‘Yes’ to any of the questions at 1.13, provide more details in the boxes provided. This will not automatically exclude you from receiving grant funding.

Section 2. Agent details

Question 2.1

Use the drop-down box to tell us if you have used an agent, consultant or business manager to help complete your application.

Question 2.1a

Have you have already provided your agent’s details in the online application? If your answer is ‘No’ please provide their details at Questions 2.2 to 2.7. If your answer is ‘Yes’ go straight to Section 3.

Your agent must have permission to ‘Make legal changes’ or ‘Full permissions’ for the applicant business as detailed on the Rural Payments service.

Section 3. Business details

Question 3.1

Select the option that best represents the legal status of the business or organisation.

Question 3.2

Select the best fit for your main business activity from the drop-down list. Eligible applicants for this grant must either be dairy cattle, beef cattle or pig farmers, or a combination of these.

Question 3.3

If you are a pig farmer, select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us if your farm has an environmental permit issued by the EA under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. If you are not a pig farmer, please select N/A.

The environmental permit is relevant for pig farms with capacity for more than 2,000 production pigs over 30kg, or 750 sows.

If ‘Yes’, enter your permit number in the box provided.

If your farm has a permit, you may need to apply for a variation to change an environmental permit. This is likely if you are applying for a new store and may be needed if you are applying for a replacement or expanded store. You can use the EA’s pre-application advice service to find out more or discuss this with your EA site officer.

Question 3.4

Select an answer from the drop-down list. Select ‘Yes’ if the applicant business has been trading for less than 2 years, or if it is not trading yet.

Question 3.5

Enter the Companies House, VAT registration and Registered Charity numbers if the applicant business has them – if not, write ‘N/A’ in the relevant boxes.

Section 4. Project overview

Question 4.1

Enter the name of your project. This should be the same as the project name you gave on the online application, and as recorded in the confirmation email you received. Your full application should be the same project as the one you outlined in your online application.

This project name will be included in correspondence and in any publicity.

Question 4.2

We need to know your project timescales. Select your proposed start date and completion date of the project from the drop-down boxes.

The start date is when you intend to begin work on your project and incur eligible costs. Remember to allow at least 3 months after you submit your full application, to allow time for the appraisal and decision making process. The project completion date is when you’ll have finished your project, incurred all costs and submitted your final grant claim.

We understand it may be difficult to forecast your completion date at this stage in the process. Use information from your suppliers and builders to help you work out how long it will take for you to complete the project works, construction and installation.

Once you know when the project is likely to be finished, build in some extra time to pay all the invoices and prepare and submit your grant claim. This typically takes one to 3 months.

You should be realistic in how long the project will take as this is often underestimated by applicants. You need to be cautious with your timescales, rather than over optimistic.

If the slurry store is at a different location to the address you gave at Question 1.4, please give the full address details here, including the postcode and county. If you do not know the exact postcode for the land where your store is located, please provide the postcode for the nearest address and explain this in the comments box. We understand that some projects may have more than one location and address. Provide the details of all the locations of the slurry stores. You may find it helpful to identify the store locations on a map and submit this with your application.

Questions 4.4, 4.4a and 4.4b

Review the answers you submitted in the online application and slurry store location and design assessment form.

We know that some project details may have changed since you completed the online application, such as changes to project costs. The overall details of the project described in this application should be very similar to those described in the online application. You should discuss any changes with our grants service team before submitting your full application to make sure you can proceed.

Significant changes to the project not already detailed in your slurry store location and design assessment form and agreed with us could affect your application and eligibility for grant funding.

Select ‘No’ from the drop-down list to confirm that the answers you gave in the online application are correct and unchanged.

Select ‘Yes’ from the drop-down list to confirm that one or more of the answers you gave in the online application was incorrect or has changed. Please use the drop-down at 4.4a to confirm whether these changes were reflected in the slurry store location and design assessment form you provided.

Use the space provided at 4.4b to confirm any changes to the answers you gave.

Question 4.5

Enter the 10-digit OS grid reference of the existing slurry store. This should be the grid reference at the centre of the slurry store and must contain 2 letters and 10 digits in the format LLNNNNNNNNNN, for example AA1234567890. You can find the 10-digit OS grid reference by using the Grid Reference Finder and right clicking on the map at the centre of the slurry store.

Section 5. Existing storage

Tell us about your existing slurry storage system by answering these questions.

Question 5.1

Select the option from the drop-down list that best describes your existing farming system.

Question 5.2

Select the type of store you currently have from the drop-down list.

Question 5.2a

If you select ‘Multiple store types’ from the drop-down options at Question 5.2, please provide details of all the store types you currently have, such as above ground steel store, above ground concrete store, earth bank lagoon with or without synthetic liner, above ground pre-cast concrete panel store, weeping wall or strainer box store, below ground cast in situ concrete store, slatted floor cellar store, slurry bag and above ground reinforced block wall store.

Question 5.3

Select an answer from the drop-down options to tell us if your store is covered, and the type of cover you have.

Question 5.4

Select an answer from the drop-down list to confirm whether you are currently using acidification. You will need to provide evidence of any acidification system that you are using. This should include details of the process, what equipment you use and photographic evidence.

Question 5.5

Select an answer from the drop-down list to confirm if you are retaining any of your existing storage.

Question 5.5a

If you answer ‘Yes’ to Question 5.5, please provide details of the storage you are retaining, for example the type of store and its capacity.

Question 5.5b

If you answer ‘Yes’ to Question 5.5, select from the drop-down list to tell us if you will be using your existing store for anything other than what you declared in the slurry wizard calculation.

If ‘Yes’, please provide details of what you intend to store that has not been accounted for in the slurry wizard calculation.

Section 6. New and expanded storage

Tell us about your new slurry storage by answering these questions.

The project you are applying for must be the same as the one you described in the online application and the slurry store location and design assessment form. If there have been minor changes to the project, such as the type of additional items you need, you can tell us about these at Question 4.4.

Question 6.1

Select the answer from the drop-down options to tell us whether you are building a new store, expanding an existing store or replacing a store that is no longer fit for purpose.

Question 6.1a

If you are creating or expanding more than one store, please provide details of each new or expanded store, for example the type of store and its capacity.

Question 6.2

Select an option from the drop-down list to tell us if you will be covering your store, and if so the type of cover.

Your new store must be covered unless you are already using acidification or are installing a slurry bag.

Question 6.2a

If you are requesting a cover, please provide details of the make and type of cover you are applying for.

Question 6.2b

If you are requesting a cover, please provide the make and type of cover below.

Question 6.3

Select from the drop-down list to tell us if you will be using your new or expanded store for anything other than what you declared in the slurry wizard calculation.

If ‘Yes’, please provide details of what you intend to store that has not been accounted for in the slurry wizard calculation.

Section 7. Store design confirmation

Question 7

Please confirm that a civil or structural engineer has confirmed that the design of your store will meet BS5502 part 50 and the Slurry, Silage and Fuel Oil Regulations (England) 2010 (SSAFO).

Section 8. Permissions and consents

Question 8.1

Confirm whether the project will take place on land or in premises that are rented, leased, or tenanted (or whether the applicant business owns the land or premises). Select your answer from the drop-down list.

If the applicant business does not own the land or premises, you will need a rental or tenancy agreement with the owner. You’ll need to provide details of your rental, lease or tenancy agreement, including end dates of the current agreement, where applicable.

Many limited company farming businesses do not own the land farmed, it is held outside the farming business, for example by a trust or owned by individuals. Where the limited company is the applicant, you will need a rental or tenancy agreement.

You do not need to send us a copy of the whole agreement, but we may ask for it in the future. We will need to see a copy of the sections showing the property address, tenant, landlord, signatures and dates, and the tenancy term for fixed term arrangements.

If we approve your application and you have a fixed term arrangement with less than 6 years to run, you’ll need to provide a new agreement at the point that your current agreement expires.

If you have an oral tenancy agreement, you need written evidence from your landlord confirming that you have security of tenure for at least 6 years. If you cannot provide this, evidence of rent payments, estate correspondence or other documentation such as subsidy claims that shows you occupied the land or premises before 1 September 1995 is acceptable.

Question 8.2

Planning approval must be in place by the time you submit your full application.

We cannot assess applications or commit funds to projects that are waiting on planning permission to proceed. Therefore, you need to send a copy of the planning permission approval with your full application.

We also need a copy of the plans and drawings that were approved as part of your planning permission. We’ll use these to confirm that the details match those in your application, and to check that any specific requirements are met.

If you do not have planning consent for your project, your application will be withdrawn from the scheme.

We may need to check the planning documents on the LPA website, so please tell us the name of the LPA and the planning reference approval number.

Section 9. Project costs, funding, and financial health

You should fill in the ‘Slurry details’ tab of the appendix spreadsheet before answering these questions.

Use these figures to fill in this section.

You must make sure the figures are the same on the full application (Word) form and the appendix (Excel) spreadsheet.

Question 9.1

Enter the total project cost in £ net of VAT (this should be to 2 decimal places, for example, £200,000.00). This is the estimated total expenditure (costs) for your project. This figure should match the total shown in the ‘Invoiced Expenditure’ column in ‘Table 5 – Claims schedule’ in your appendix spreadsheet.

Question 9.2

Tell us the total maximum grant you are applying for in £ (this should be to 2 decimal places, for example, £65,000.00). This figure should match the total shown in the ‘Grant Claim’ column in ‘Table 5 – Claims schedule’ in your appendix spreadsheet.

The minimum grant you can apply for is £25,000, and the maximum grant is £250,000 per applicant business.

You should use the table on the ‘Slurry details’ tab to work out the total amount of grant that you can apply for.

Question 9.3

Enter the total amount of private match funding required for the project in £.

You need to fund these project costs with private money, such as business savings, a bank loan or overdraft.

You cannot use public money (such as other grant funding from government or local authorities) as your match funding.

Question 9.4

Tell us the source of your private match funding. This might be from your own business funds, a bank loan, an overdraft, a personal loan from family or friends, a director’s loan, your own savings, or a combination.

Use the drop-down ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ boxes to tell us the sources of all project funding you’ve secured or have conditional agreement for (for example, subject to the grant being awarded for the project). If you select ‘Other’, please tell us about the funding source in the box provided.

You need to provide evidence of the match funding with your application. This could be an email, letter or copy of a commercial loan agreement, which needs to show:

• where the funding is coming from (a named person or organisation)
• how much the funding is for (the amount is enough to fund the project)
• who the funding is being offered to
• the date of the offer

If you are funding the project from other sources, such as own savings, personal loans from family or friends, director’s loans, or cash reserves within the business, you also need to show how much and where it is coming from. For example, a bank or building society statement that shows the funds are available to the business. If the funding for the project is part of a larger mortgage or loan, please explain how you will make use of this facility and show that there are enough funds available for the project.

If you buy an item for the project using lease or hire purchase, you must fully own the item before you can claim any money towards it. This means that before you claim any grant, you need to have paid all the instalments and can show that you own it outright.

Question 9.5

Grant funding is paid in arrears at agreed stages. We expect you to make a maximum of 3 claims over the course of the project.

Explain how you will make sure there is enough funding in place to pay the project costs in full before each grant claim is submitted, allowing time for claims to be processed and paid. For example, if there is enough within your overdraft or normal business cash flow. We need to understand the financial capacity within your business to manage the delivery of the project.

Question 9.6

Please explain any relevant financial issues relating to the applicant business and the business accounts you have submitted.

We may not be able to support projects that we consider present a significant financial risk to the business.

Section 10. Other funding

Question 10.1

Please tell us if you or your business has received, or applied for, any other public sector funding for this project. Select your answer from the drop-down box. If ‘Yes’, please give details in the table at 10.1a.

This includes funding from public sector organisations like your local authority (including Farming in Protected Landscapes) , Big Lottery Fund, levy board funds or other government grants including from Defra, Natural England, Forestry Commission and RPA.

It also includes EU funding, such as:

• European Social Fund (ESF)
• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
• European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
• European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
• Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)
• Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF)
• Forestry Commission
• LEADER

You should include details of any other grant applications you have made and not yet heard the outcome, such as the Lump Sum Exit Scheme.

You do not need to include Single Payment Scheme (SPS) or Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments.

Section 11. Project delivery

The information that you give in this section will help us assess how you will deliver the project.

Projects need to be delivered within design, budget, and schedule to be successful. Tell us how you will manage your project to achieve these targets, and how you will deal with any issues that may occur during delivery of your project.

Question 11.1

Risks are defined as events that could impact the successful delivery of your project. The table in the full application form lists the following examples:

• delays or difficulties with suppliers, contractors, labour or materials
• installation and commissioning delays
• adverse weather
• delays or changes to project funding
• unforeseen additional costs
• lack of expertise in the business to deliver the project
• changes to the team managing the project and grant

You need to complete all columns in the table, using drop-down choices or some free text, as follows.

In column:

• A select the chance of each risk occurring
• B select the likely impact if a risk does occur
• C explain what you would do if the risk did occur and the steps you would take to continue the project

Explain what you would do to reduce the change of the risk occurring.

Add any additional risks you identify in the empty boxes at the end of the table.

Question 11.2

Tell us how and who will manage your project delivery, including:

• the people in the project team responsible for delivering the project to schedule and cost, raising the grant claims, and managing the post-project business activity
• their current roles in your business and their project delivery skills and experience, or whether you are bringing in outside expertise

We may not be able to support projects that we consider have significant delivery risks and a lack of planned mitigation actions.

Section 12. Information and evaluation

12.1 Follow-up contact

Please let us know if you are willing to be contacted in the future. This will help us improve the services and schemes we provide. Select your answer from the drop-down options.

Declaration

Please read this section and make sure that you’re in agreement with and can meet the requirements set out in it.

The declaration must be completed and submitted by someone holding ‘Full’ or ‘Make Legal Changes’ permission on the Rural Payments service.

By submitting and agreeing to the submission of the full application form, you’ll be agreeing to the declaration. Remember to complete the agent authorisation section if you want an agent to act on your behalf and contact us regarding your application. You will also need to provide them with a minimum of ‘Make Legal Changes’ permission on the Rural Payments service.

When completing your declaration, you should be aware that RPA may withhold or recover all payments under a grant funding agreement if the agreement holder is responsible for a serious breach of their agreement or the 2021 regulations, for example if the agreement holder:

• gives false or misleading information
• fails to report a change of circumstances
• fails to provide requested information
• obstructs or prevents a site visit

In serious cases, RPA may prohibit the agreement holder from receiving financial assistance under this scheme and other Defra schemes for up to 2 years. Agreement holders will be notified of any decision and have the right to query it using RPA’s complaints procedure.

The person making the declaration and submitting the form must provide their CRN and the email address to enable verification on the Rural Payments service.

If you have provided details of a new agent or updated their details at Section 2, please complete the agent authorisation section.

Monitoring and evaluation

If your project is approved, you will be expected to participate in monitoring and evaluation activities. The aim of this to improve service delivery, monitor the extent to which the aims have been achieved and to review the success of the fund as a whole. Further details with be provided with your grant funding agreement.

Supporting documents checklist

You must email your supporting documents with your electronic full application form and appendix spreadsheet. Please email your supporting documents as PDF files.

All supporting documents that you need to support your application are listed at the end of the full application form. See ‘Supporting documents checklist’ for a list of these. You need to review this list and tick the relevant boxes to confirm which documents you have submitted with your application. There is a comments box against each for you to provide additional information if necessary.

If we do not receive all the supporting documents needed for your project, or they do not meet our requirements, we will not be able to assess it. This may impact on your project timescales, or your application may be rejected.

Please make sure your supporting documents meet the following requirements:

Application appendix spreadsheet

Detailed instructions on how to fill in the application appendix are set out below. All tabs must be fully completed and saved in the correct format.

Applicant business accounts

Refer to the guidance at Question 1.10 for applicant business accounts evidence requirements.

Linked business accounts

We’ll need to see the accounts for any businesses that the applicant business is linked to, as described at Question 1.11a. These need to meet the same requirements as set out at Question 1.10.

New businesses or self-employed applicants

Refer to the guidance at Question 1.10 for evidence requirements.

Appropriate consents and permissions

Please provide the approved planning permission and the plans submitted as part of your planning application.

If you are a tenant, you must provide us with the relevant sections from your tenancy agreement as set out on the full application form. You must also provide written consent from your landlord to confirm they have given their permission for the project to be undertaken.

If you have obtained any other consents, licences or permissions for your project, please forward copies to us.

Evidence of project funding

Refer to the guidance at Question 9.4 for funding evidence requirements.

Evidence of slurry acidification

Refer to the guidance at Question 5.4 for evidence requirements.

Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) permit variation document

If you a pig farmer and have an EPR permit, you must provide a copy of the permit variation document. If you have not received the permit variation document when you submit your full application, you must send it to us as soon as you receive it.

Design declaration for slurry storage

You need to make sure that you and the civil or structural engineer complete the ‘Design declaration for slurry storage’ form. You must also include the design drawings, and the covering email from the engineer with the form.

Complete the design declaration for slurry storage form

You must complete a design declaration for slurry storage form and submit it as part of your full application.

This form is a part of the application process. It is required as confirmation that your proposed slurry store is designed to meet with the SSAFO and BS5502 part 50. The form will need to be completed for expanded stores as well as new stores. The proposed slurry storage detailed in the form should match both the slurry store location and design assessment approved by the EA, and that which has been approved by the LPA.

The form should be filled in by both you and your engineer. The engineer must be a qualified civil or structural engineer and a member of a chartered institute. It is the responsibility of the engineer to make sure the store is designed to meet all the requirements of the above regulations.

The drawings you include with your supporting evidence should show the location with scaled plan, elevations and annotated cross section showing wall and floor construction. The drawings should be numbered and listed on the form.

Section 1. Applicant and project details

You should complete this section.

Enter:

• your full name
• the full address of the slurry store location, including postcode
• your 6-digit project reference number

Section 2. Design confirmation

The engineer should complete this section.

Tick the relevant boxes to confirm the stores and reception pits that you are declaring meet the above regulations and enter the drawing numbers relating to each store or reception pit in the boxes provided.

Section 3. Engineer declaration

The engineer should complete this section.

Enter:

• your full name (please use BLOCK CAPITALS)
• your email address
• your telephone number
• the date.

Tick the appropriate box to confirm the professional organisation you belong to and enter your membership number in the corresponding box. You must be either a ‘Fellow’ or ‘Member’ of the professional organisation. If you are a member of a professional organisation which is not listed in the table, you need to tick ‘other’ and provide details of the professional organisation.

We need this information so we can contact you if we have any queries about the design of the store or reception pit.

The engineer should email the completed form to the applicant . You must include this email with your supporting evidence.

Complete the application appendix spreadsheet

You must complete the application appendix spreadsheet and send it to us with your full application. The tabs to fill in are the:

• slurry details
• project milestones

Some of the information you enter in the Slurry details tab will automatically populate the third tab, Outputs. The Outputs tab shows the results that your project will be expected to deliver when it is completed. If your application is successful, this information will be included in your grant funding agreement.

Slurry details

You need to enter your business name, project name and 6-digit project reference number in the application details section.

Table 1 – Storage volumes

Fill in the following information:

1a Existing storage capacity

Enter the total number of months’ storage that you currently have. In your calculation you should include any storage capacity that is not fit for purpose and will be taken out of service, as well as any usable capacity that you will retain.

1b Storage capacity required for 6 months

Enter the storage capacity in m³) you need to meet your expected total slurry production over your chosen 6 months. You can use the slurry wizard to work this out by adding together the ‘Total cubic metres (m³)’ figures (row 20) for each month. This figure will include an allowance for the required freeboard and should match the one used in your slurry store location and design assessment.

1c Future storage capacity

Enter the number of months of total usable storage capacity you will have following completion of your project (even if this is more than the 6 months of storage capacity funded by the grant). Do not include any storage capacity being taken out of service.

The details for existing storage capacity in m³ and future storage capacity in m³ will be calculated automatically based on the volumes you enter in the store details table below.

Table 2 – Store details

Complete this table for each store type you currently have or expect to have.

For future storage capacity for each store, enter:

2(i) Existing – taken out of service

The volume of existing storage you will take out of service once the project is complete, in m³.

2(ii) Existing storage retained

The volume of existing storage you will retain in m³ for the relevant store type (2a)(ii).

2(iii) New

The volume of new storage capacity you will create in m³.

You also need to enter:

2b. Number of stores

The number of stores you will take out of service, retain or create.

2c. Number of fixed flexible covers

The number of fixed flexible covers you retain, and the number of fixed flexible covers you will purchase.

2d. Number of floating flexible covers

The number of new floating flexible covers you will retain and the number of new floating flexible covers purchase.

The columns on the right of the table will show the existing storage retained, the volume required to reach 6 months’ capacity and the volume over 6 months’ capacity. These figures will populate the ‘Store’ section (3a) of the Project items table.

Table 3 – Project items

This table lists all the stores, covers and slurry store accessories available for grant funding.

3a.

When the store volume figures are populated from the Store details table, the Project items table will automatically remove any storage capacity over 6 months. The total eligible and ineligible capacity costs show in the ‘Total’ and ‘Ineligible’ columns.

3b.

Enter the size of cover you require in m².

3c to h.

Enter the number of any additional slurry storage items you require.

Then enter the total number of each item you require in the ‘Total units’ column. The grant amount for each item will be calculated automatically.

If the items requested are above the £250,000 grant maximum, the table will calculate the difference. The ineligible costs will be shown in the ‘Ineligible’ column.

The total maximum eligible grant is shown at the bottom of the table.

Table 4 – Project funding breakdown

The project funding breakdown table is automatically populated from the information entered in the previous tables. It sets out the total project costs, minus any ineligible costs, so you can see how the final maximum eligible grant figure has been calculated.

If you will have more than the eligible 6 months’ capacity, the ‘Project items’ table will calculate this as a percentage of the total storage being created. This figure is populated into this table and the grant is reduced by the amount of the ineligible storage costs.

If the total amount of grant requested is more than the grant maximum of £250,000, the table reduces the eligible costs accordingly.

Table 5 – Claims schedule

This table sets out when you intend to make your claims, how many claims you want to make and the value of each claim.

You can make up to 3 claims in total. When setting your claim dates, think about when your costs will occur and when the invoice(s) will be paid in full. Some item costs may be spread out, so you may receive interim invoices as the work is completed. In these cases, you may wish to submit 2 or 3 claims against one item.

If you intend to make more than one claim, you must make sure that the final claim is at least 25% of the total grant amount being requested.

The amount of grant paid will be 50% of the invoice cost or the standard grant contribution for that item, whichever is lower.

All projects are also subject to a maximum £250,000 limit. If this is the case, the Project funding breakdown table shows the ‘% intervention on invoiced costs’ which is the rate we will use to estimate the maximum grant amount we will pay for your claim. This makes sure we do not overpay your initial claims if you intend to make more than one claim. This is calculated at 50% of total of the ‘eligible grant’ divided by the ‘total project @ standard grant’, shown in the Project funding breakdown table. This figure will automatically populate as the intervention rate in the ‘Invoices paid out at’ column of the claims schedule.

The ‘Invoiced expenditure’ column of the table shows the minimum invoice amounts we would expect you to provide to support the amount of your grant claim, based on the intervention rate shown. If your invoices total more or less than this figure, we will pay your grant based on your invoice amount at the intervention rate shown. We will then adjust the amount of your future claims to reflect the increase or decrease in the grant paid. We’ll also make sure the final claim will remain at a minimum of 25% of the total grant awarded.

If you are making more than one claim, your final claim will be the difference between the total grant awarded and any amounts already paid.

You need to complete the ‘% of total expenditure in claim’ column and the ‘Date to be claimed by’ column for each claim you wish to make. The table will highlight in yellow the cells you need to fill in.

Remember to space multiple claims at least 3 months apart, to allow time for any project slippage and our processing and payment requirements. We may have to amend claim dates that are too close together. If you expect your project to complete in a short timeframe, you may wish to make only one claim.

For most costs, it is likely that you’ll receive one invoice so will then claim for the full cost after the item has been received, installed and paid for in full.

We do not normally pay grant until the item is fully installed and operational. However, there may be some instances where a large deposit must be paid at the point of ordering. In these cases, you can claim up to 40% of the value of the item, and it should be clearly set out in your claim schedule.

Project milestones

Project milestones should show the key steps and stages of your planned project delivery: what you’ll need to do and when.

Fill in this tab with the expected project start and completion dates, plus dates for achieving interim stages such as:

• commissioning of equipment or building works
• completing building works
• installing equipment
• testing equipment and getting it fully functional
• any other significant stages

Outputs

The Outputs table lists the project outputs we expect your project to meet.

These will be automatically populated from the details you enter in the slurry details tab. You should check that the outputs are correct and in-line with your proposed project. If they are not, you will need to check the details entered in the slurry details tab and amend as necessary.

For the Slurry Infrastructure grant, the outputs are:

• number of non-serviceable stores taken out of service
• type of slurry store constructed
• volume of storage created by the grant (m³)
• increase in storage capacity (months)
• total number of months storage capacity
• type of cover installed
• number of slurry store covers added
• area of slurry stores covered (m²)

The minimum storage capacity should be retained for a period of 5 years from the final grant payment.

If your grant application is successful, we will send you data monitoring and reporting guidance with your grant funding agreement.

Submit your full application

You need to fill in and email the completed application form, appendix spreadsheet, Design declaration for slurry storage form and any other supporting documents to FTF@rpa.gov.uk.

Save your application form as a Microsoft Word document and your appendix spreadsheet as a workbook in a Microsoft Excel .xls format.

Attach the documents to the email and send it from the email address you gave us in Section 1 of the application form.

If an agent or consultant sends the form for you, they must copy you into the email (using the email address you give us in Section 1 of the application form).

The email addresses used to submit the application must match exactly with the details in the Rural Payments service, and the applicant must have permission to make legal changes or full permissions for the applicant business.

Sending supporting documents

You need to attach all supporting documents to the email you send with your application form, appendix and design declaration for slurry form.

Do not send documents by post or save them in online storage systems and provide links to access them.

Emails should be a maximum of 32MB. You may need to send several separate emails. If you do, number each email, for example ‘Project reference number: application 1 of 3’.

Your project reference number will be on the email we send to you inviting you to submit a full application.

If you have any problems completing the full application, contact our telephone helpline on 03000 200 301 and select the option for the Farming Transformation Fund.

If you do not have Microsoft Excel

You can use free Open Office software to complete the application appendix, as long as you save it in the Microsoft Excel (.xls) format.

To do this:

• select ‘Save as’ when saving the appendix spreadsheet – the ‘Save as’ box will open
• select the format for the document in the ‘Save as type’ box – select the format type Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP/2003 (.xls)
• click ‘Save’

A dialog box may open asking you to ‘Confirm file format’ – if that happens, select ‘Confirm’.