Farmers should move quickly to apply for grants up to a maximum of £10,000 of environmental grant funding before time runs out, said property and farm business consultants Strutt & Parker.

The application deadline for the Catchment Sensitive Farming Capital Grant Scheme is 30th April 2013. This is a scheme funded by Defra and the Rural Development Programme for England.

Matthew Hague, land agent in Strutt & Parker’s Ipswich office, said: “The grants are designed to enable farmers to improve or install infrastructure that reduces diffuse water pollution from agriculture. Up to £15.5million is available for farms in target areas of England and Wales with a maximum of 50% of the actual cost of agreed capital works available, capped at £10,000 per business. Each farm business can only make one application per year and grants will go to projects which best meet the scheme’s priorities.”

Eligible projects include watercourse fencing, sediment ponds and traps, resurfacing of gateways, roofing of existing manure storage and livestock gathering areas, new livestock and machinery tracks, pesticide handling and bio-bed option, yard works for clean and dirty water separation, rainwater storage tanks, first flush rainwater diverters and downpipe filters.

Mr Hague said: "The CSF Capital Grant Scheme offers farmers a great opportunity to undertake improvement works on the farm with the help of funding. I would encourage all eligible farmers to take this funding seriously and act now in order to gain from the scheme.”

Since the introduction of the scheme in April 2006, around £54m in grants for capital works has benefited more than 6,000 farmers.

Catchment target areas can be found on http://magic.defra.gov.uk/ – under the map of ‘Rural Designations – other’. Successful applicants will be notified by July and any work carried out needs to be completed by February 2014.

For further information and advice, please contact Mr Hague in Strutt & Parker’s Ipswich office on 01473 214841.