Farmers and land owners wanting to apply for a Hedges and Boundaries Capital Grant (HBCG) have until 30 April to get their documents in.

The hedgerows and boundaries grant is a standalone capital grant under Countryside Stewardship and those eligible can apply to help provide environmental and landscape benefits on their land.

The maximum grant available for each farm business is worth up to a maximum £5,000 and gives applicants the opportunity to carry out capital works to hedgerows, stone walls, stone-faced banks and earth banks.

Ben Compton, from the rural team at Bruton Knowles is now advising farmers and landowners to be aware of the April deadline and make sure they get their applications in on time.

Ben is also advising those considering applying to be aware of the various criteria in place for all applications so they don’t waste time filling in the forms and collating documents only to find they don’t qualify.

To be eligible the farm must not have an Environmental Stewardship, multi-year Countryside Stewardship or English Woodland Grant Scheme agreement on July 1, 2016.

Ben said: “This is a good scheme that will help the farmer or landowner obtain funding for both establishing and maintaining natural boundaries.

“If any farmer or landowner is unsure on whether they can apply or not, the team at Bruton Knowles is on hand to check the criteria against their current status.

“We don’t want anyone using up precious time on applications that may fall at the first hurdle while as a competitive scheme want to make sure the forms are correct.

“Successful applicants then have two years to complete the capital works that they have applied to do and the work can be completed and claimed early if the work is completed ahead of schedule.”

Successful applicants will be notified in July 2016, in time for the planting season and any work carried out has to be looked after for five years from the start date of the agreement.

For further information please contact Ben Compton or Julia Allen on ben.compton@brutonknowles or Julia.Allen@brutonknowles.co.uk or call 01452 880113.