Applications are now open, and you have until November 30th to apply for this year’s funding.

 

The scheme offers farmers and land managers, both owners and tenants, financial and technical support, to invest in tailored solutions to help tackle diffuse water pollution and to protect and maintain biodiversity and the natural environment.

 

For eligible recipients, match funding up to £10,000 is available but in catchments where pesticide reduction is a priority, farmers can now apply for up to £30,000 for washdown and disposal areas, and there is also up to 100% funding for watercourse fencing (Funding offer is available to customers in cryptosporidium priority groundwater catchments only).

 

In 2023 alone, STEPS supported over 120 on-farm environmental projects, including more than 2,000 ha of cover crops, and welcome more farmers to work with them this year.

 

Severn Trent has identified three key concerns in its priority catchments and is urging farmers to pursue funded options that prevent pesticide, nitrates or cryptosporidium reaching watercourses.

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Nitrate catchment areas:

 

• Cover crops

• Grass margins

• Cryptosporidium catchment areas:

• Livestock fencing along watercourses

• Hard bases for drinking troughs

• Roofed livestock handling and manure storage areas

• Constructed wetlands

 

Pesticide catchment areas:

 

• Closed Transfer Systems (CTS) for pesticides

• Pesticide washdown areas, including roofing

• Riverside grass margins

• Biobeds and biofilters

• Alternative weed management in grassland fields

• Precision pesticide application equipment

 

Application window for pesticide priority items closes on 31 May 2024.

 

Eligibility

• You must be aged eighteen or over, on the date you submit your application.

• You must be the owner or leaseholder of the farm.

• Grants will only be available to farmers and landowners who farm or have land within a ST drinking water abstraction catchment, and/or farm within one of Severn Trent’s priority SPZs.

• Severn Trent may reject applications if they are not likely to benefit water quality, biodiversity or the environment.

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For more information or help with your application contact:

Kathryn Williams – 07971 583 638

kathrynwilliams@dmpcuk.com