Following the previous announcements of new capital grants aimed at supporting the implementation of agroforestry, Defra has now paused applications for these grants until further notice.
The grants affected are:
The payment for creating an agroforestry plan (PA4) remains open for applications.
Previous work done by ORC has found that funding for trees and their protection is considered vital by agroforestry practitioners. This sudden loss of support for the up-front costs of agroforestry could result in many projects being scrapped or delayed. The timing is also not ideal as many of the applicants will have already made plans and sunk costs into tree planting in anticipation of the funding support. Any delayed plans could result in having to plant trees during dryer, warmer conditions next year which will negatively affect tree survival rates, or waiting until the following autumn/winter before planting. Thankfully those that have an application already approved will still receive their payments, however, those with applications in preparation or review have, for the time being, lost a key source of income. .
The reason for this pause is due to an overwhelming demand for these grants. Defra state that “As of November, RPA had received more applications for the standalone capital offer than over the whole of the 2023-24 financial year.” While they don’t provide specific values for the volumes of applications for each grant, this statement may provide some insight into the size of interest in agroforestry and tree planting by landowners and managers in the UK. ORC has experienced a growing interest in agroforestry from the attendees at the Agroforestry Show 2023 and the popularity of the Agroforestry Tent which we co-hosted at Groundswell this year. This interest in agroforestry is likely to continue growing, potentially resulting in Defra having to lower the payments associated with the capital grants, although we will have to wait until the new year to see if and how this progresses.
