The Expression of Interest (EOI) window for Small Grants -Efficiency is 18 May to 29 June 2022.

This  is a capital scheme designed to help farmers in Wales to improve the technical, financial and environmental performance of their farm businesses.

The maximum grant award is £12,000 and the minimum is £1,000.

Previous participation in the Farm Business Grant will not affect your ability to apply for the maximum £12,000 grant.

The grant provides a maximum 40% contribution towards capital investments in equipment and machinery (excluding VAT), which can be demonstrated as offering clear and quantifiable benefits to farm businesses.

The grant will be a maximum 40% contribution against actual invoiced costs up to the maximum referenced costs as stated within the list of eligible capital items.

To view the Rules Booklet, please click below:-

https://gov.wales/small-grants-efficiency-general-rules-booklet-html

and for a detailed list of eligible capital items, please click here

The Small Grants – Efficiency scheme is only available to claim using the Grants Claim page on your RPW Online account. If you require further assistance with your application, please contact us here at CARA on 01570 471516 or email office@carawales.co.uk

Please follow the link below for opening & closing dates for rural schemes April to October 2022. Further details to follow on our website near to the opening dates of each.

https://gov.wales/rural-schemes-application-dates

Due to an expanding workload, we are currently looking for an additional Agricultural Consultant as well as an Office Manager to become  members of the CARA Team. Please click on the links below for a job description and details of how to apply. Closing date: 20 November 2020.

CARA AGRICULTURAL CONSULTANT_

CARA OFFICE MANAGER

Pen-blwydd CARA yn 15 !   CARA 15-year Anniversary!

The CARA team would like to thank you for all your support and custom over the last 15 years. The Company was established on the 1^st July 2005, hence we have now been trading for 15 years, providing business services and advice to rural businesses across South and West Wales. When we started we were a team of 5 members of staff, and we have now more than doubled that figure to 12 members of staff.

 As some of you may be aware, we were planning on undertaking the 3 Welsh Peaks challenge today, on the anniversary of the Company, to raise funds for the Welsh Air Ambulance and Tir Dewi. This has been postponed in light of the current situation, however we will endeavour to complete the challenge as soon as is practically possible. For those of you who have already donated, we thank you, and assure you that your donations will be held onto until we have climbed the mountains!

 We wish to thank all our customers for their loyal support, kind hospitality and friendship over the years, and look forward to many more years of forging good working relationships.

 Kind Regards

John, Iwan, Wendy and all the CARA team.

Hoffai’r tim yn CARA ddiolch yn fawr ichi am eich cefnogaeth dros y pymtheg mlynedd diwethaf. Sefydlwyd y Cwmni ar y 1^af  o Orffennaf 2005, ac ers hynny rydym wedi bod yn darparu cyngor a gwasanaethau busnes i fusnesau gwledig ar draws De a Gorllewin Cymru.

Roedd 5 aelod o staff gan y cwmni yn y dyddiau cynnar, ond mae hynny wedi mwy na dwbli i 12 aelod o staff erbyn hyn. 

 Fel roedd nifer o ohonoch yn ymwybodol, roeddem wedi gobeithio cwblhau sialens y Tri Copa Cymreig, heddiw ar ddiwrnod penblwydd y Cwmni, i godi arian tuag at Ambiwlans Awyr Cymru a Tir Dewi. Bu’n rhaid inni ohirio hyn oherwydd yr amgylchiadau presennol, ond gobeithiwn gallu cwblhau’r sialens cyn gynted â bo modd. I’r rhai ohonoch sydd wedi cyfrannu yn barod, diolchwn ichi, a gallwn eich sicrhau y bydd yr arian yn ddiogel nes y byddwn wedi dringo’r mynyddoedd!

 Hoffwn ddiolch i’n holl gwsmeriaid am eu cefnogaeth ddi-ffuant, cyfeillgarwch a lletygarwch caredig dros y blynyddoedd, ac edrychwn ymlaen at ddyfodol disglair o weithio gyda’n gilydd. 

 Cofion Cynnes

John, Iwan, Wendy a’r tim yn CARA

Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the 6th Window of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Production Grant (SPG) opened on 2 September 2019 and will close at midnight on 11 October 2019.

The grant provides a maximum 40% contribution towards capital investments in equipment and machinery that have been pre-identified to support farmers to address nutrient management and safeguarding and improving water, soil and air quality by reducing pollution.

The maximum grant award is £50,000 (£125,000 spend) and the minimum is £12,000 (£30,000 spend). Applications are to be made via your Rural Payments Wales (RPW) on-line account. A general rules booklet is available on the Welsh Government website. Eligibility for the SPG requires a partner in the business to attend a ‘Sustainable Farming Roadshow’ organised by Farming Connect. Please click here for a list of venues and dates throughout Wales and to book a place.

If you require further assistance with your EOI, please contact us here at CARA Wales on 01570 471516.

Thursday 26 September 2019 – Royal Welsh Showground,  Llanelwedd, Builth Wells LD2 3SY

Innovation and Diversification Wales is a free event and will provide you with support, advice and guidance to improve your businesses and allow you to explore new ideas to improve profitability and sustainability. It will include trade stands, seminar areas, a practical funding and business advice area as well as demonstrations on the latest technology across the agricultural and forestry sector.

CARA Ltd is pleased to be one of the 100 Exhibitors at this event. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!

Please register your interest in attending here.

If you intend to carry out an agricultural improvement project (e.g. ploughing, re-seeding, direct drilling or new drainage) on any semi-natural land, you will need a screening decision from the Welsh Government (WG) before you can proceed.

• Semi-natural land is any area containing less than 25% of improved agricultural land (e.g. perennial Ryegrass and/or White clover)
• Existing highly improved land (e.g. silage fields) will not require screening if it contains more than 25% of these species

You will need to submit a Screening Application form (click here) to your local WG Divisional Office before proceeding with your project. Responses  can take up to 35 days, so please plan ahead. There is no charge for applications, and decisions are valid for 3 years. Breaching the Regulations is illegal, and may lead to prosecution and penalties on your Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) or Rural Development Scheme payments.

Further information and guidance is available on the WG website or by contacting the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 062 5004 or EIA.unit@gov.wales

CARA staff will also be pleased to assist you with your application. Tel: 01570 471516

VAT registered businesses with a turnover above the VAT registration threshold (currently £85,000) are now required to keep digital VAT business records and use MTD-compatible software to send returns for VAT periods that started on or after 01 April 2019. Businesses whose taxable turnover fall below the current VAT threshold can also sign up for MTD for VAT voluntarily.

CARA Ltd currently has capacity to take on new clients for VAT. Please contact Wendy Jenkins on 01570 471516 / 07929 164012 for further details.

If your business uses, treats , recovers, stores or disposes of waste you may need a environmental permit to allow certain activities involving waste to be carried out. Most farmers manage waste in some form, so will need to be registered. There are about 60 waste exemptions, with those most relevant to farmers being;

• D1 depositing dredgings from streams and ditches on the banks
• D7 burning untreated wood or vegetation at the farm
• S1 storing waste in secure containers
• S2 storing waste in a secure place
• S3 storing sewage sludge prior to spreading
• T1 cleaning agricultural plastics and containers
• T6 chipping wood and plant tissue
• T23 composting vegetation waste
• T24 anaerobic digestion of manure and slurry
• U1 using clean builders rubble in the foundations of a new barn or shed, tracks or roads
• U8 using waste tyres on a silage clamp or waste wood shavings as animal bedding
• U10 spreading waste to agricultural land to provide benefit

Each registration lasts 3 years, and will then expire unless you re-register the exemptions you want to continue to use. To register/re-register online, please visit the NRW website by clicking here. Alternatively, you can call the Customer Care Centre on  0300 065 3000 who will advise you on how to register.

A number of registrations are due to expire in the Autumn of 2019 – you can check your expiry date by accessing the Public Register on the NRW website and entering the relevant search parameters.

If you require further assistance or advice with your registration, please contact the CARA office on  01570 471516.

During the lead up to Christmas 2018, CARA staff wore their festive jumpers to work, and at the same time donated money towards a good cause. As a result, £100 was raised and presented to Tir Dewi -a local charity comprising a team of volunteers who work to answer the needs and issues faced by farmers in the community.

For further information on Tir Dewi, please visit their website, telephone 0800 121 4722 or email info@tirdewi.co.uk

Letter from Tir Dewi