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With the Government’s £15.9 million England Woodland Creation Offer now open, Olivia Midgley looks at the opportunities in tree planting and the various grant schemes farmers can tap into.

The scheme provides greater financial incentives for woodland creation, with £15.9m available in its first year

Íæż½ã½ã who applied for 2020 Countryside Stewardship (CS) grants almost 12 months ago are still in limbo after civil servants said they could not visit their farms to sign off applications due to Covid-19.

Being food producers, farmers know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone somewhere has worked hard to provide such generosity.

Farm businesses will be able to claim Government backed loans of up to 50,000 with no repayments or interest for the first 12 months.

The Government has committed extra research and development spending, while farmers are being urged to explore the tax benefits of bringing more innovation to their businesses.