This grants scheme offers generous financial support and advice to farmers for adopting certain practices, preventing soil erosion and for newly buffered watercourses. You cannot double fund with other schemes such as Countryside Stewardship or the Sustainable Farming Incentive and there are annual funding limits per farm business for some of the measures.

The funding on offer includes:

•    Cover crops after combinable crops
•    Cover crops after maize and other late-harvested crops
•    Undersowing grass into maize
•    Arable reversion to zero-input grass
•    Arable reversion to low/medium input grass
•    Arable reversion to herbal ley
•    Arable reversion to fertility building legume fallow
•    Establish new watercourse buffer strips on arable land
•    Watercourse fencing to exclude livestock
•    Grassland subsoiling to loosen compacted soil
•    Resurfacing sections of farm tracks and cross drains
•    Yard drains and curb stone aprons
•    New covered manure stores to replace existing field heaps
•    Rainwater gutters and downpipes
•    Cross-slope hedgerow creation
•    Riparian tree planting
•    Wetland features including creation or restoration of ponds, swales, in- field bunds, in-ditch features, sediment traps and constructed wetlands

Expressions of interest are invited for funding for infrastructure options including:

•    New covered farmyard manure stores
•    New or replacement guttering and downpipes on farm buildings
•    Installation of cross drains on farm tracks

Applications will be scored, and funding awarded on a range of criteria including the predicted amount of phosphorus prevented from entering watercourses by implementation of the measure (per application and per unit area/metre), likelihood of the applicant meeting scheme requirements (as set out on the project website) and the location of the measure in relation to specific Wessex Water recycling centres in the scheme area.

For more information, including zoomable maps of eligible areas, terms, conditions, payment rates and how to apply: click here or you can call the FWAG SW office to speak to an adviser on 01823 660684 or email Wessex Water directly at [email protected]