Investments in agricultural companies for diversification into non-agricultural activities

The Notice is aimed at encouraging investments for corporate diversification activities that promote economic growth and sustainable development in rural areas, also contributing to improving territorial balance, both in economic and social terms and more specifically to finance the realization of

• farmhouses;
• activities for social agriculture;
• educational/didactic activities;
• transformation of agricultural products into products not included in Annex I of the TFEU and their processing and marketing in company sales points.

The budget assigned to the tender is 11,300,000 euros, unique for the 4 types of investments envisaged.

Beneficiary

The proposing entities must possess the following requirements:

1. Being agricultural entrepreneurs, individual or associated, pursuant to art. 2135 of the civil code.
2. Agricultural businesses must have a minimum standard production size of €10,000.

Furthermore, specific requirements are required for each of the 4 activities included in the notice.

Eligible expenses

For the agritourism measure, the following interventions will be eligible:

1. restructuring, recovery, redevelopment and adaptation of existing company buildings and artefacts, in single and multiple company bodies, and the related areas of relevance, for the diversification of agricultural activities towards agritourism activities, in compliance with current urban planning and landscape regulations;
2. purchase of new machinery, equipment and furniture to be used for carrying out project interventions;
3. creation of websites and all new forms of online promotion, excluding management costs;
4. installation and restoration of the buildings' heating, electrical and telephone systems, as well as the creation of durable services and equipment necessary for the activity to be carried out
5. purchase of hardware and software aimed at managing agritourism activities;
6. creation of technical volumes and toilets strictly necessary for the agritourism activity; installation and/or restoration of systems;
7. works and equipment connected to the activities to be carried out, such as audio-visual and multimedia supports, posters, mini-field laboratories, educational kits, furnishings, setting up of rooms and spaces for sampling and sampling of products made in the company, company commercial points intended to the sale of products mainly made by the company, educational gardens;
8. works related to overcoming and eliminating architectural barriers, as well as adapting to health and safety regulations and risk prevention;
9. purchase of equipment, furnishings, kits, as well as info-telematic equipment for access to broadband connections;
10. implementation of interventions for water and energy saving, for rational waste management and for energy supply from renewable sources.
11. material investments for the adaptations of the agritourism structures, necessary to obtain the quality certification of the accommodation services;
12. The following intangible investments: acquisition or development of computer programs and acquisition of patents, licenses, copyrights, trademarks;
13. arrangement and adaptation: of open spaces to be used for agri-camping including toilets and bungalows made of wood or materials with reduced environmental impact; of outdoor green spaces; of company access roads and routes for guests, connected to the existing building
14. works and equipment aimed at expanding the offer of sporting, recreational, cultural, hiking services, sales points of company products

For social agriculture the following interventions will be eligible:

1. Construction works for the recovery of existing company buildings, attributable exclusively to the renovation, adaptation, restoration and conservative restoration of the internal spaces (living space, rest space, space for services - kitchen/bathrooms), strictly functional to agricultural activities social. The works must comply with

current regulations on health, urban planning, environmental matters and the overcoming or elimination of architectural barriers, except for permitted exceptions.

2. Creation and/or adaptation of technological systems (thermal - plumbing - electrical etc.) also through the introduction of innovative technologies aimed at energy saving and the use of renewable energy sources.

3. Arranging and securing paths and external areas near the properties to be used for social farming activities.

4. Creation of prefabricated wooden boxes for the shelter of horses and structures for the conservation of equipment, possibly masked by suitable vegetation. The boxes, no larger than 4x4 m in size, must be equipped with a drinking cup and feeder. Furthermore, the construction of riding stables of a size not exceeding 1,500 m2 is permitted.

5. Purchase of instrumental equipment (furnishings, equipment and necessary signs) strictly functional to carrying out the activity. The equipment and equipment, such as for example audio-video ones, must be expressly and exclusively intended for the activities envisaged in the social agriculture project. Equipment intended for social agriculture activities is permitted in the various forms it can take, such as social activities (social inclusion, rehabilitation), social welfare (animal therapy, horticultural therapy), agri-kindergartens, reception of people, including minors, with disabilities or disadvantage, rehabilitation and treatment

For educational/didactic activities, the following interventions will be eligible:

1. renovation / restoration / conservative restoration interventions of buildings belonging to the agricultural company; any sanitary systems (construction and/or renovation of bathrooms) / electrical / water / thermal and similar may represent a maximum of 40% of the amount as a systems item compared to the total expenditure requested in the application for the renovation / restoration / conservative restoration of the buildings;
2. specific equipment for carrying out educational activities (meaning equipment for carrying out recreational, educational and cultural activities connected and integrated with the activity and characteristics of the agricultural company and with the rural environment, such as for example demonstration equipment and / or laboratory, computer equipment and related software, etc., with the exclusion of furniture, kits and small materials)

For transformation of products not present in Annex I TFEU the following interventions will be admissible

1. renovation/restoration/conservative restoration interventions on buildings belonging to the agricultural company for the creation of rooms with characteristics suitable for use such as stock shelters, laboratories for processing activities, tasting rooms and sales rooms (with possible expansion of a maximum of 10 % in surface area limited to accessory volumes such as toilets, barrier-free access, stairs and the like) the interventions will be evaluated with reference to the current Regional Agriculture Price List; any sanitary systems (construction and/or renovation of bathrooms) / electrical / water/thermal and similar can represent a maximum of 40% of the total expenditure requested in the application for the renovation / restoration / conservative restoration of the buildings;
2. purchase of specific equipment for carrying out the transformation activity (such as fermenters, pasteurizers, malters, centrifuges, extruders, mixers...) with the exclusion of consumables (e.g. chemical reagents, nitrogen, CO2 or other gas cylinders ), non-durable goods (i.e. lasting less than 5 years), small parts and small tools for manual use;
3. creation of websites and all new forms of online promotion, excluding management costs;
4. purchase of hardware and software aimed at managing activities;
5. works and equipment connected to the activities to be carried out, such as audio-visual and multimedia supports, posters, mini-field laboratories, educational kits, furnishings, setting up of rooms and spaces for sampling and sampling of products made in the company, company commercial points intended to the sale of products mainly made by the company, educational gardens;
6. implementation of interventions for water and energy saving, for rational waste management and for energy supply from renewable sources including ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. The energy produced can be used exclusively for self-consumption purposes, therefore, in the case of systems such as photovoltaic ones, the activation of the on-site exchange mode is permitted only with compensation of company consumption and without sale

For all four interventions the following general expenses are allowed:

1) fees of professionals and/or consultants, for:

– feasibility studies;

– environmental incidence and impact assessments;

– drafting and preparation of all project documents accompanying the application for support;

– management, accounting, reporting and testing of the works;

– preparation of the technical-accounting and administrative documentation for the purposes of submitting the application for advance payment, SAL and balance, as well as the support application;

– drafting of the safety and coordination plan referred to in Legislative Decree no. 494 of 14/08/1996 and subsequent amendments, in the event that the conditions exist on the work site.

The percentages attributable to the project for the items included in the general expenses category follow the following indicators:

a) max 7% for projects drawn up by graduate technical designers in possession of the qualification to practice the profession and registered with the relevant competent professional associations or councils;

b) max 6% for projects drawn up by non-graduate design technicians in possession of the qualification to practice the profession and enrolled in the relevant colleges;

c) max 3% on the amount of mobile equipment included in the projects drawn up by both graduate and non-graduate design technicians;

d) max 1% for the drafting of the safety and coordination plan, pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 494/1996 and subsequent amendments;

The expenses relating to points a and b are not cumulative. 2) other expenses: -expenses for financial consultancy;

- expenses for maintaining a current account, provided that it is a current account opened specifically and dedicated exclusively to the operation, with the exclusion of passive interest;

- expenses for sureties for the granting of advances;

-expenses relating to the obligation to provide information and publicity on interventions financed by the EAFRD (plaques, billboards, etc.);

-expenses relating to the activities carried out by accountants and statutory auditors on the basis of what is defined in the respective agreements stipulated with the Region.

In any case, the maximum amount eligible for the contribution to the expenses referred to in point 2) cannot be greater than 5% and reference must be made, for the purposes of reasonableness of costs, to the comparison of at least three offers of competing estimates or to "realistic" market price list or the technician's evaluation carried out on the basis of an accurate and documented market survey, excluding policies, expenses relating to the current account and expenses relating to notary fees.

Facilitation

The projects must include contributions of between 20,000.00 and 200,000.00 euros (maximum amount of contribution foreseen per company). The maximum contribution, paid under the de minimis regime, will be equal to 200,000 therefore the maximum financeable project cost will be equal to €307,692.

Presentation

From November 10, 2023 to February 15, 2024.

Photo by Scott Goodwill on Unsplash