Written question asked by David Morris (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 February 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 February 2012. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Tuesday, 6 March 2012 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farms: Storage

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial assistance is available to farmers who need to replace or upgrade silage and slurry stores as a result of EU directives.

Answer: Under the Capital Allowances Act 2001, agricultural businesses are entitled to make use of the annual investment allowance. This enables businesses to claim full tax relief, up to £25,000 of capital expenditure, on most plant and machinery expenditure in the year it is incurred, and this includes capital works on silage and slurry stores.Where it operates, grants of 50% of the capital costs of a wide range of works, up to a limit of £10,000, are available under the catchment sensitive farming initiative. Eligible works include ancillary structures, such as roofs over silage and slurry stores, but not construction of the stores themselves.There are also grants of up to £25,000 available under the farming and forestry improvement scheme. Similar to the catchment sensitive farming initiative, these grants are not available for construction of storage itself, but can be used for ancillary works such as covers for slurry stores which, by keeping out rainwater, can reduce the cost of the store by reducing the volume of storage needed.

Secondary information